Soul Admiration
by snowbunnie13
Summary: Second in the Soul Equilibrium series. Maka was about to lift her hand to chop him but couldn't. There must be something wrong with her! "Soul, quick, make fun of my breasts!"
1. Chapter 1

Soul Admiration!

Chapter 1: After the battle: what's this feeling that I have?

Authors note: welcome to season two of Soul Equilibrium! ^_^ [inserts new opening song here] I finally got some new ideas and decided to continue this fic.

"Your weapon's so girly, Soul! Maka's so girly compared to me, the one who has surpassed God!" Black*Star shouted during another training session. He was, of course, referring to the fact that as a scythe, Maka had wings on either side of her eye. Fluffy (though made of metal) angelic wings. They were probably because of her grigori-type soul, or at least that's what Stein thought. Maka didn't care, honestly. They were beautiful, and now she didn't have to pester Soul so much about being an angel.

Soul held his weapon in a battle pose. "Maka's a great weapon, even though her scythe is kind of cute." He defended her. In the reflection of the blade, Maka smiled proudly.

"Soul said Maka was cute! Bwahahahaha!" Black*Star laughed.

The albino weapon-meister blushed, realizing the words that had escaped his mouth. "I said Maka _as a scythe _was cute, idiot! Who'd think titless Maka would be cute anyway?"

"Maka Chop!" Her hand, complete with book, snuck out to bash Soul in the head.

"It hurts even more when you're a weapon!" He rubbed his wound, putting down the green weapon, who transformed back into a human. She turned her back to her weapon-meister in anger but also because a thought was racing through her mind: Soul said I was cute! Even if it was only my weapon form, he said I was cute!

It was ever since they performed the Soul Equilibrium that Maka had been seeing Soul in a different light. She had always admired him—he was cool, and passionate in all that he did (besides studying; that was one of the few faults Maka found with him.) Now it wasn't just admiring him as a person . . . it was something more than that. She also felt that . . . protectiveness . . . that she thought Soul must feel.

Was it true? Was she really turning into her partner? Maka more than once has woken up from dreams of eating souls, drool seeming to have escaped her lips when she was asleep. She's never done _that _before!

After practice, she asked Tsubaki about it (the feelings, not the drool, she wasn't going to tell _anyone _about that, not even Soul). The ninja weapon was known for good advice.

"I feel this weird . . . I don't know . . . really powerful _respect _for him, yeah, that sounds about right. I mean, I've always respected him but it's so much more intense!" She explained. "I don't know what to make of it."

"When did it start?" Tsubaki asked calmly.

"Maka thought carefully. "I first noticed it after that battle with Cleopatra, but I wonder if maybe it started before then."

"I think what you're feeling is something all weapons go through after they choose a meister. There's stages you go through. First you adjust to them, which is hardest the first time."

"That wasn't fun."

"It must have been extra tough for you, being a weapon-meister." Tsubaki agreed. Adjusting to your meister was very difficult. You got used to the way they held you and the way they fought. It was hard for Tsubaki, who had many different forms. Black*Star didn't notice, but he held each of them differently. He held the enchanted sword mode much more carefully than he did the other weapons.

Maka's main problem was that at first she didn't really want to be a weapon, even if it meant that she could be a deathscythe better than her Papa. She had to come to terms with her status as a scythe, possibly not so much getting used to fighting with Soul. They were so close, it seemed like the first time Soul practiced fighting with her he knew exactly what to do.

That's not to say he was perfect, of course, that would be impossible, but transitioning from practice scythes do the real deal was a big difference. Sometimes meisters would practice new moves with fake versions of their preferred weapon before trying them out with their weapon partners. Brand-new meisters _especially. _Soul just seemed to know how to use Maka in particular; her precise height and weight and the angle of the blade.

Soul didn't notice this, of course; he was too busy ignoring Maka's nagging. She never changed!

"Then, though it's very subtle, you figure out that they are the only meister for you. Can you imagine being wielded by anyone other than Soul? Black*Star? Kid?" Tsubaki continued.

Maka's face was in horror. "No!" She shuddered, thinking of what might happen if Black*Star was her meister. _Oh, Maka, you're not godly enough to be my weapon! _

What about Kid? Scythes weren't symmetrical unless you looked at them from the side! Of course, she'd have to become a deathscythe first to be Kid's weapon…him being the new Shinigami and all…

Speaking of the two guns, Liz and Patti joined the conversation.

"Are you guys having girl talk without us?" Liz greeted.

"Actually we're having weapon talk." Tsubaki corrected. "Maka's going through phase three, I think, of weapon placement."

"So I'm guessing that face is thinking of another meister?" Liz guessed, eyebrows rising.

"Black*Star, actually." Maka said. What's phase three?"

"Loyalty."

"That's it? I'm just feeling _loyal _to Soul?" Maka was hoping for a better answer than that.

"Nah, it's more than that." The older Thompson said. Her sister nodded. "You'd give up everything for them."

"Remember when Soul protected you during the battle with Stein? And Chrona?"

"I don't know if I'd die for him. And speaking of that, he was a total idiot!" Maka grumbled. She'd never forgive him for jumping out in front of her like that!

"I don't know about Chrona, though." Liz disagreed. "I was watching it through the Death Mirror while Kid and Patti and I were finishing some papers. The look on his face then was more than simple Weapon's Loyalty. If you ask me, that would be the beginnings of something I like to call love. The look on his face—"

"No way!" Maka immediately replied, face flushing. The others giggled. Well, Patti was rolling around with laughter, but that's beside the point. "Besides, we're talking about weapon phases, not Soul! Please just tell me what I should do!" Maka glared, and remembered, "So this is what Soul meant about a weapon always ready to die for their meister?"

"He said that to you?" Tsubaki exclaimed.

"You're not supposed to tell your meister that." Liz added in shock.

"Why not?" Maka was confused, something she was not used to. "Why not?"

"The last time a weapon admitted that they'd die for their meister, well . . . that was Asura and his weapon." Tsubaki said, scared. "It's the reason there's weapon-only classes. Even pages of books have been removed about this. I wouldn't be telling you if you weren't part weapon yourself."

"I won't turn into a Kishin." Maka said strongly. Now _that _was something she'd die before letting that happen. "And neither would Soul! He would never do that."

"Of course not! It's just a precaution!"

"Anyway," Liz interrupted, "Short and sweet: you're going through phase three, the loyalty phase, You're going to have to accept Soul as your meister, as your _only _meister. Just like he did for you."

Maka bit her lip. The only person who would ever wield her was Soul. That much she knew for sure. She hoped Soul felt the same, but she had to keep in mind that he was a deathscythe, so he could be wielded by Kid also. _Could, _of course; Kid admitted that it felt funny that one time when he tried. He said that because they were friends, he probably wouldn't use Soul unless he needed to. His fighting style was with long-range weapons anyway.

"Now that I think about it," Tsubaki said, "Some people call Weapon's Loyalty Weapon's Love."

"Eh?" Maka exclaimed a little too quickly. The other three girls pretended not to notice.

"Maka," Liz began, "There are different types of love than just romantic love. Take me and Patti for example. Before we met Kid, we alternated being each other's meisters. Between the two of us, we have a sisterly love. Well, you're an only child, so I guess it's a bad example, but still."

"So you guys are weapon-meisters too?"

"Yep!" Patti smiled. "Sis is the only one besides Kid that can fight with me!"

"Though I think we can only wield each other if we're being meisters."

"I bet your mother could fight with you too, since you have a mother-daughter love." Tsubaki added. "Though that also means—"

"Maka could fight with her dad!" Patti laughed.

The pig-tailed weapon-meister pulled a disgusted face. Her? Wield her stupid Papa? She could imagine it: _Maka, my darling, let's do Witch Hunter! That'll show them not to mess with us! Maka! Don't jump from there, it's too dangerous! Makaaaaa! _

"I take that as a 'no.'"

"Soul is my only meister and he is my only weapon." _I'll get used to this, _she thought, _I can be his weapon too. We defeated a witch together! We're a great team either way. _

"That's good then." Liz said. "Well, the day's almost over. Let's meet up with the boys. They're probably waiting for us."

…

While their weapons were talking, the three boys were sitting outside the front door waiting for them. One of them definitely didn't want to be there, and his name was Soul Evans.

"Soul said Maka was cute, Soul said Maka was cute, Soul said—" Black*Star was singing, drunkenly. Note to self: don't sign him up for Death City Idol.

"Would you _shut up? _For the last time, I said Maka _as a scythe _was cute! AS A SCYTHE!" Soul yelled.

"Yes, your singing is giving me a headache." Kid agreed. Black*Star quit singing, but not laughing. "What makes her cute, huh? Is it her symmetry? If you hold a scythe a certain way it can be symmetrical, you know."

Kid usually didn't take too much part in these kinds of talks, but the girls were taking _forever _to get back, so he figured he might as well. He was curious too.

"Not telling." Soul grimaced.

"I'll tell her about—" Kid started to say. Obviously he had some kind of blackmail against the albino.

"You wouldn't."

"I would!" Black*Star said. "What are we talking about anyway?"

Soul rolled his eyes. "If you'll shut up about it, then I'll tell you. This is so uncool. I think the wings are . . . cute. They're just so _Maka. _Also, she can shut up about being an angel, since she has wings, at least on her weapon form. But my scythe is cooler! I have those little . . . what are they, anyway? The things on the other side of my eye?"

Soul couldn't tell what he looked like as a scythe until they took a picture of it and put it on his school ID card. He got a new deathscythe one the day after the ceremony. It was probably a good thing he got a new card at the time that he did; his old one had been lost, found, stepped on, and had a strange looking stain where he must have spilled something on it.

"Are they spikes?" Kid guessed.

"I guess." Soul said, happy that the conversation was going somewhere else. He also wondered what Maka might look like as a deathscythe. He hoped the wings wouldn't go away.

"Soul said Maka was cute, Soul said Maka was cute, Soul said Ma—" Black*Star resumed his singing until said scythe had a blade millimeters from the ninja's neck. "Fine! But you still said it."

"They're here." Kid interrupted their squabble, often his job when it was just the three of them. How Black*Star and Soul got along at all before they met him was beyond his understanding. Perhaps even more so than their "friendship hug" on the battlefield while they were fighting him. Bromance, Soul called it, but Liz and Patti once said otherwise…

Of course, they had been giggling in their bedroom and he had been running back to the living room to check a painting, so he wasn't sure if he could trust their separate conclusion.

"I would have signed up for school earlier if I knew there was going to be yaoi moments!" Liz laughed to Patti. "When those two boys were running toward each other, I could have _died!" _

"You're right, sis! It was so funny! What do you think would have happened if Kid didn't shoot them?"

They were unaware the Shinigami had his ear against the door, listening carefully. What was this yaoi that they spoke of? He'd have to look it up later…

"D'you think they would've kissed? Oh-my-Death, what I wouldn't _give _to see that action!"

Patti giggled while Kid slowly walked away, terrified of his two weapons.

Needless to say, any sort of physical contact Black*Star or Soul (or both) made on him caused him to freeze up and wonder why he signed up for school. Eventually he got over it, but he was _not _going to kiss Black*Star or Soul any time soon. Besides, they were unsymmetrical!

Of course, there _was _that party at Black*Star's house. . .

"What's wrong, Kid?" Liz asked, startling him.

"Oh, nothing . . . let's just go home."

Maka and Soul left on Soul's motorcycle; Black*Star and Tsubaki walked (their apartment was closest) and Kid summoned his car so he and his guns could drive back to his mansion. He had some work left to do back in the Death Room, but figured he could save it for tomorrow.

~Black*Star's Party part one: Kid and the Hat~

Later that evening, as Kid tried to get to sleep, he was remembering Black*Star's party. It was a guy's night. He was introduced to the realm of video games that day. Once he got over the fact that the controllers weren't symmetrical, it was fun beating the crap out of people (mostly zombies, and zombies were _never _symmetrical).

Soul came late, as usual, and to Kid's horror / delight, he was _symmetrical. _He wore a cap over his messy white hair, the source of his asymmetrical-ness.

"Hey, I brought some movies if we get bored—why are you looking at me like that, Kid?"

"I could kiss you right now."

"What?"

"You are perfectly symmetrical." Kid explained. "With that hat, you—"

Soul threw the hat on the ground. "Thanks, Kid, _thanks. _Now I'm not going to be able to wear this hat ever again. Maka's going to be pissed."

Surprisingly for Kid, he did not go into his crazy mode but regained his composure. "Why's that?"

"She bought it for me, and if Maka buys clothes for you, she expects you to wear them. Why do you think I wore that pink t-shirt last week?"

Black*Star laughed, remembering.

"My point exactly." Soul said. "Pink could be cool, but only if it wasn't _a size too small." _

Later, after they had demolished the snacks, played all of the video games, and watched all of the movies, the three boys sat on the carpet and tried to think of other things they could do.

"Tsubaki was telling me about this game that she always plays when she has the girls over! It's called truth or dare!" Black*Star suggested. "I'll go first, since I'm the godly one. Kid, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

He soon realized that was a big mistake. Black*Star chuckled. "Remember when you said earlier that you could 'kiss Soul'? I dare you to kiss Soul, but it has to be on the lips! Bwahahahaha!"

"Hey!" Soul protested. "Black*Star! Gah—" The ninja snuck up behind his friend and put the hat back on.

"Do it or I'll bring the girls over here to watch. You don't want Maka to know you kissed a dude, do you, Soul?" Black*Star said.

Apparently this seemed to have some sort of effect on Soul, because he sat back down. "Kiss me, Kid. Just get it over with."

Kid trembled as he scooted next to his friend. "O-ok…" Slowly he pressed his lips against Soul's, and even though his eyes were closed he swore he saw a flash.

"Only choose truth if you're playing with Black*Star," Soul whispered. Too bad Kid's face was still where it was; Black*Star had just taken the best yaoi photographs that were ever in existence. Seriously, Soul Evans up against a couch seen whispering to Death the Kid's blushing face? The two were voted the hottest boys in school, though they didn't know that. Black*Star wondered if he could make some money if he sold these. "Now get off, Kid."

"You . . . are . . . your eyebrows are . . . unsymmetrical! I just kissed something unsymmetrical! I should DIE!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: A crazy day! What lies behind the mask?

"Uh . . . Maka, what are you wearing? It's a school day; you're usually wearing your school uniform." Soul noticed as he drowsily emerged from his room the next morning.

"Do you like it?"

Maka currently sported a pair of grey skinny jeans and a green tank-top with black stripes. She also pinned back her hair with some colorful clips instead of wearing pigtails. It felt weird, but Maka thought it looked good. The other girls said so anyway, and she trusted them.

"You don't like it?" Maka said after Soul paused and wasn't answering.

"No, it's just different." Soul had learned from experience if a girl asks you if she looks good you answer _yes. _This was especially important when going to parties.

"Different good or different bad?"

"It's cooler than your uniform." Soul said, which seemed to be a good enough answer for Maka. "What's the occasion anyway?"

"No occasion. I just wanted to change, and you're always saying my hair looks better down so I left it down."

It was true; Soul often said it looked better freed from their pig-tail prison. She only wore it down only on the weekends, and sometimes after school. Even then it might be captured in a single pony-tail. It was a good thing for Soul that he didn't count how many times he's commented on her hair, or one might think he was obsessed with it. Well, borderline obsessed, no one could compete with Death the Kid and his symmetry.

Scratch that, he was definitely obsessed. As they were riding to school, he was imagining what her hair looked like as they weaved through traffic. _It must be fluttering around in the wind…_

"Ugh! My hair's in my face! This was a stupid idea!" Maka complained as she dismounted the motorcycle when they arrived. Soon after she felt her meister's hands scooping the hair back.

"Better?"

"W-what are you doing?"

"Getting the hair out of your face, idiot. Let's go." He said matter-of-factly, trying to disguise his delight of touching the confused girl's hair. He probably wouldn't get the chance to for a while; she'd probably revert back to the pig-tails tomorrow if her hair style was ruined and they hadn't even gotten into the school already.

"Oh-OK." Maka stuttered. "We have a meeting in the Death Room, so let's hurry!"

…

When Soul and Maka entered the Death Room, they found it to be utter chaos. Kid was screaming his head off at Black*Star, who was yelling that he didn't do anything wrong, gods can do whatever they want, and Tsubaki was trying to maintain calm.

"What's going on, Tsubaki?" Maka asked.

"Black*Star moved the Death Mirror, and Kid's angry about that because his Dad is coming back from vacation today to check up on him. He wants everything to be perfect, you know."

"AH! And now Maka's hair is unsymmetrical! Of all the days! Let me fix it, Maka!" The young Shinigami cried.

"Her hair is fine, Kid!" Soul got in the way. The two boys glared at each other as Black*Star continued to give his famous speeches.

"Why are we fighting over my hair?" Maka said, and pushed Soul and Kid away from each other, which didn't help. Out of desperation, she transformed a finger into a small knife and brought it up to a lock of hair. "Oh boys!"

They looked up.

"No! The symmetry!"

"Maka, don't! _Maka! _Maka please don't cut your hair!"

"Stop fighting over whatever you're fighting about and get this room clean before Shinigami comes!" Maka ordered.

"Yes, Ma'am!"

"Good." She transformed the blade back and turned to Tsubaki, "What just happened?" Before watching Kid and Soul help each other clean the Death Room. Black*Star, having no one to impress, jumped down.

"I have no idea." The ninja weapon responded. "I think Soul just tried to defend your hair being down, Kid didn't like that, so they argued about it until you threatened to cut it off. Then Kid freaked out and Soul said he likes your hair again. After that they forgave each other and are now working together…I'm confused."

"I don't understand why my hair is so special, but at least the room is clean again…"

…

"SO! One of the reasons I set up this meeting today was to talk about what happened with Soul and Maka during the battle against the witch." Kid said after the room was clean and the friends (plus Dr. Stein who had come to see what the fuss was about) sat around a table in a circle. "What you call the Soul Equilibrium."

It was something that no one had ever heard of, at least not until that witch Cleopatra attacked with her 10,000 kishins. It had something to do with the fact that Maka and Soul were both weapon and meisters. From what they could gleam, it was very powerful, even more than the anti-demon wavelength that Maka possessed that had transferred over to Soul when he had been the meister.

"Can you tell us exactly what happened again?" Stein suggested.

"Well," Soul began, "It was really strange. Maka leapt out in front of me when the witch attacked and suddenly we were in a room that looked like the Black Room I told you guys about, but it wasn't, because there was a bookshelf instead of a piano."

"I started reading out of one of the books, and it told me that the Black Room was just Soul's Soul Room, and we were in my Soul Room. The book said that's where your soul resides, and in your room you have a Conduit that releases wavelengths." Maka said. "Mine is a bookshelf, and Soul's is his piano."

"Yeah. Then she said she read something about the Soul Equilibrium from a scrap of paper in the room that said it was an upgraded form of Resonance."

"There shouldn't be anything higher than Resonance. It's impossible." Kid frowned.

"Resonance is weapon and meister sharing wavelengths. You share wavelengths together by bouncing it back and forth between each other. You can't create a wavelength out of nowhere unless, of course, Maka was conceiving…" Stein said.

"DOCTOR STEIN!" Maka exclaimed. Soul slumped in his seat, face turned a ghostly white. He must have been asleep during _that_ lecture. . .

"What? It's the truth." Of course, as a scientist, he could say embarrassing topics without flinching. Or maybe that was just the type of person he was to begin with.

"_Anyway, _what happened next?" Kid interrupted.

"We shouted 'Soul Equilibrium', and suddenly it wasn't just me holding scythe-Maka but Maka holding me as a scythe! We attacked together and then she—as a human—disappeared."

"And that's what happened." Maka finished. "And I've been searching the library but I can't find anything!"

"If it's not in the library, then where?"

"You won't find the answer in our library." Suddenly Kid's father emerged from the Death Mirror. "Hiya everybody! I'm back!"

"F-Father! Good morning!"

"Good morning, Shinigami!" The others said.

"Yes, yes, it's nice to be back! I'll show you all pictures later! But I was listening to your conversation a bit, and I think I know where you'd need to go for answers about the Soul Equilibrium. You'd need to go to the Witch's Library."

"But that's the most heavily guarded place on Earth!" Maka gasped.

"Let's not worry about that right now. I have some important news!" He did something no one expected—he started to take off his mask.

"Father?"

"Shinigami?"

It was in slow motion, as if he didn't really want to show his face. It had been on for so long, no one really cared if he wore the mask all the time. It was solemn, too, because this action seemed to signify something very important.

He was an older version of Kid. With no Sanzu lines, of course. He had some wrinkles on his face and a few stray grey hairs. The cloak he wore transformed into a plain, black suit. The others could hardly tell it was him until he opened his mouth to speak.

"Hiya! You don't have to stare at me like I'm some sort of ghost!"

"Father you really—" Kid just couldn't speak; he was too surprised. He was also secretly glad that his father was symmetrical.

"Yep! You see everybody, when the Shinigami takes off his mask, it means he's officially given his position to his heir! And since my heir's Kid, he is _officially _the new Shinigami! I told him he was in charge when I left for vacation, but that was mostly a test to see if he could handle it, which he has! So son," he turned to Kid, "I trust you to keep the world balanced. With your OCD I'm pretty sure that won't be a problem, eh? You're going to be great!"

"You really think so?" Everybody smiled at the corny moment.

"Of course!" he smiled, laughter lines spreading across his face as they hugged.

"So does this mean I have to wear the mask all the time like you? You've never said otherwise." Even though the mask was symmetrical, Shinigami Kid was wary of wearing it. He wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because it might need a good cleaning before he put it on…

"Hmm . . . that's up to you! But you should put it on during the official ceremony we're going to have next week, OK?"

"Of course."

…

After the meeting was over, father and son hung back a little. "Father?" Shinigami Kid asked seriously. There was one more question he wanted to ask. It was a question he'd always wanted to ask, but was too afraid.

"Yes, son?"

"I'd . . . I'd like to know about who my mother was."

His father sighed. It was time to stop beating around the bush. "I will start from the beginning."

_[flashback! Note: back in his younger years, Kid's father was known as "Death"]_

_Anna and I were out by the lake again, having a picnic. It was our favorite spot to go to, ever since we started dating. Almost a year now? Time flies fast when you're happy. I never believed it until I met her. She was my weapon, actually, so naturally we were very close. _

"_I love you, Death." She reminded me, and rested her head on my shoulder. I stroked her blonde hair and wrapped a curl around my finger. _

_I remembered my real reason for taking her here tonight. "Anna—" I began, clasping her hands with mine, "Will you marry me?" I pulled out the small box that I had been hiding in my pocket. _

"_Of course I will." She smiled. _

…

"_Death?" Anna asked one night._

"_Yes?"_

"_Do you ever think . . . someday we might start a family?"_

_I faced her sadly. "There is nothing I'd like more, but—"_

"_But what? Please, tell me, Death."_

"_I'm afraid that any child of mine might kill you." I told her honestly. "I wouldn't have that happening. So, there is nothing I would like more, but it is impossible for us."_

_She sat up, shocked. "What? Why?"_

"_Anna, you must understand, I'm not human! Neither would be my children. They would be Shinigami, and as they grow they would need nutrients that you don't have in your body. I carry them in my blood." I explained. _

_An idea sparked in her eyes. "Then give me your blood! Every day, give me some of your blood from a needle or a pill or something like that! That way, our kid can get the blood he needs."_

"_That just might work!" I exclaimed. "Well then…"_

…

_The first four months were fine. In fact, Anna looked as healthy as ever. But as the due date drew near, something seemed wrong. Anna waved it off as something 'all pregnant women go through' but whatever it was, it was getting worse. Her face paled, and the weight she'd gained naturally was wasting away._

_I knew she was in constant pain; it was on her face, even though she hid it well. She still waited patiently for our 'kid', as we weren't sure of the gender. I too was excited, but if something happened…_

_It was August eighth when her water broke._

_It was August eighth when she died, small baby boy in her arms. He was the cause of her death. He was Death the Kid. I couldn't think of a better name._

_[End flashback]_

Needless to say, both Shinigami were crying; one for the love of his life, and the other for the mother he never met.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Don't look down! A furry friend knows about the Library?

"What's wrong, Maka? You look worried." Soul said over dinner. It was true; her eyebrows were slightly furrowed and it was easy to tell that her thoughts were elsewhere. Luckily for the both of them, Soul was the one who cooked today because the last time Maka cooked with this attitude, everything ended up burnt.

"It's just . . . the Soul Equilibrium. I want to know more about it, but I can't because it's not in our library. Dr. Stein has theories about it, but they're only theories." She chuckled nervously. "You know me. I always want to know."

Soul gave a quick smile. Yes, she finally admits to being a bookworm! She usually takes it as an insult, which in a way it is, but it's better to be known as "bookworm" than "tiny tits", right? Maybe Soul just wasn't that great with coming up with nicknames.

"But then Shinigami says that the answer might be in the Witch's Library, so there's a possibility that I might be able to understand it, but it's near impossible to get in there. Even the witches have to ask for special permission, or so the friendly witches say."

Contradictory to popular belief, there were witches that were friendly to Shibusen, or at least neutral. These were usually ones that were cast out of their society, or maybe just beings with magical powers like Blair. The friendly witches did not usually offer information or lend their strength to the cause, unless they felt like it.

That is if they had the power to fight; for some the extent of their powers were creating a few healing potions.

"What's so special about the Witch's Library?" Soul asked carefully. He wasn't sure if he should have known this by now, resulting in a Maka-chop.

"It's a beautiful place!" Another voice came into the room—Blair was home. "I went in there once. Why are you guys talking about it?"

Maka and Soul looked at each other for a quick second, confirming that they trusted Blair. "There's a book that has some information that might be there. It's about some special powers that Soul and I seem to possess."

"A book, nya~? Maka loves her books! Hehe, I'm surprised you don't own it already!"

"What kinds of books are in the Witch's Library, Blair?"

"All kinds! I went in there with my master; she was looking for a certain spell book."

"Your master?" Soul asked, confused.

"The one who gave me my powers! I don't know where she is though; I got lost one day and found Death City. Then I met you two!" She explained cheerily.

"Oh, I'm sorry about your master, Blair." Maka said.

"I'm not worried about my master. I have Maka and Soul now!" The cat-witch said. The two weapon-meisters knew she was being serious by the way she actually referred to Soul by his real name instead of going back to 'Scythy-boy'. "But I bet the book you want is in the Library, if it's not in the Shibusen Library."

"How can we get in there?"

"I'm sorry, Soul; I was only a kitten when I went in. I didn't read any of the books. All I remember is that there were lots and lots of books!"

"That's OK, Blair, you really helped us a lot!" Maka smiled. She didn't think that one day Blair might come in handy! Information-wise, at least. She really helped during the battle when Medusa used the Black Blood. If she wasn't there, those other witches that had shown up would have destroyed Death City!

"No problem, Maka!"

…

Maka dreamed of a dark place. As she opened her eyes in the dream, the first thing she saw was the giant Bookshelf.

"Oh, I must be in my Soul Room again." She said aloud, walking toward the Bookshelf. First she turned to the small table that held the scrap of paper she'd seen during the battle with Cleopatra. It was old, and looked like it had been ripped out of something.

_Soul Equilibrium is an upgraded form of Resonance . . . weapon-meisters. . ._

"All I have is this scrap of paper." Maka said to herself again. Sometimes when she had a dilemma to solve and no one was in the room, she'd resort to talking out loud. "It's something like Resonance and is related to weapon-meisters. Is there a connection between the two? Soul and I have always been able to Soul Resonate, no matter if he's the weapon or if I am. Maybe . . . have we been using the Equilibrium all this time? No, that couldn't be, we would have known."

"Hanging out in your Soul Room again, Maka?"

"Hanging out in _my _Soul Room, Soul?" She replied sarcastically. "What are you doing here?"

Soul scratched at the back of his head. "Um, well, I was in mine earlier and I saw a new door that led me here. You should have one too. Over there." He pointed to a hallway that appeared to lead away from the Room. It was littered with different kinds of doors, not all of them labeled. Yes—one of the doors did have a sign on it that read SOUL.

"I was just curious, so I went in." Soul explained.

"Where do the other ones lead? You've known about your Room longer than I have, after all."

The boy immediately felt on the spot. He'd seen some interesting things behind those doors. Of course, he'd only explored them after he was sure that the red imp was gone. "Well, I have a closet full of all the souls I've eaten. And this really weird one behind a yellow door, it plays back memories like a movie! That was fun to play with. You should try it."

Maka found the yellow MEMORY door and opened it, revealing a room that looked like a movie theater. The curtains flew open when she and Soul sat in one of the chairs. Memories . . . think of a memory. . .

She remembered when they first met. It was the first thing that came to mind.

"Cool," Soul commented.

"I want to try going into your Soul Room! Let's go through that door next!" Maka said, excited. She half ran, half skipped over to his door, which was a deep crimson red, like his eyes. She did, however, regret her decision because the hallway the door led to was freaking _long. _She couldn't even see the end of it! It was tight and claustrophobic, and had the atmosphere of a castle dungeon. Maka wasn't afraid though. She stepped bravely onwards, her partner close behind.

Another red door opened, and they were back into the piano room. Soul felt much more at home here. Also safer, because in his eyes the Bookshelf in Maka's Room was technically full of weapons to be used at the owner's disposal. Well, hopefully she wouldn't chop him.

"So . . . I've been reading while I'm dreaming in my Room. What do you do in here?"

"You want me to play the piano again, don't you?" He could always see right through Maka's plans to make him play.

"Well, maybe. . ."

"If you'll shut up about it I'll play something. Requests?" Soul sighed.

"I've got some music books in my Soul Room! Hang on, I'll be right back!"

Soul rolled his eyes. Of course she did. He knew that Maka was trying to teach herself how to play the piano. At first it was Maka's secret, but Soul found out when he found the books on her desk. He offered to teach her himself, saying that books aren't the way to learn something as expressive as music, but she was too prideful to ask for help, especially from him.

And if Maka's Bookshelf contained all of the books she had ever read, there was no doubt that the books she checked out at the library about music would be there. One of them contained a list of practice pieces. Some of the ones in the back were particularly difficult. For a beginner, at least. Soul played a few songs from the book with ease. Maka clapped.

"That was great, Soul!" 

"Well I screwed up around the middle—"

"You're just being modest! It was wonderful!"

By now Soul had realized that he couldn't explain to Maka how it wasn't perfect and it was no use being modest or anything silly like that so he thanked her. And then threw the book back at her.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"You play something."

"WHAT? Me? I'm not even remotely good at this."

"Just one." Soul commanded.

"Oh, all right. I'll play the first one. And whatever you do, _don't laugh if I screw up." _ Maka sat hesitantly on the small bench and flipped to the very first practice song in her book. Staring at the notes on the page, she suddenly felt unsure in herself. _You can do this, Maka! You're brave! _She told herself.

She may have played the piece perfectly, but she played each key after looking at the book for a few seconds. She got better nearer the end, but still had to look down at her hands as she played. Maka finished, and turned slowly back to her partner, who had a proud smile on his face.

"It was terrible, wasn't it?" Maka said.

"Naw, Maka, you just need some practice. For starters, quit looking down at your hands."

"What? I'll screw up!"

Soul leaned against the instrument. "No you won't. That's not how music works."

"Then tell me how! You're always saying that I don't understand, but can't you help me understand?" Maka said desperately.

Soul thought for a while. "OK, I'll help you. Playing music is like reading books. You read a lot of books, so this might actually work. When you read, you try to visualize what the characters are doing and feeling, right? That's why authors put in a setting and describe what they look like."

"What does this have to do with music?"

"I'm getting there! Imagine this sheet music as a book, 'k? It tells you what to visualize. For now, picture your hands doing the same thing." He wished he could explain more of what he meant by this analogy. Both books and sheet music conveyed feelings, too, and so much more…Maka might understand this in time, step by step.

"Visualize. . ." Maka carefully placed her fingers back on the keys in their proper locations and willed herself not to look down at them. The first note was a C note. _Oh! I play that with my thumb. _She hit the C note, and finished the song without looking down. "So music is like reading books. . ."

"Not exactly. That's just part of it. Come back to my Soul Room when you figure the rest of it out. You're going to wake up soon, and you might want to be in your own room when you do."

Well, at least she was starting to understand music. Maybe one day.

~Black*Star's Party part two: Tsubaki and the camera~

When I got home, I was expecting the house to be destroyed, but found it rather tidy. I figured at least I would have a lot of dishes to do, especially after all the food that Black*Star prepared (aka went to the store to buy chips and soda), but the house was exactly the same as I had left it.

I suddenly realized that it wasn't—the couch had been moved to the center of the room. It must have been Death the Kid, trying to make the room symmetrical! He might have done the dishes too . . . I should call him later to thank him.

Of course, I wasn't sure if Soul had taken part, but he only cleaned when Maka told him to. They fight like an old married couple! It's no wonder we all suspect they like each other! I giggled to myself.

Hey, wasn't that Kid's camera wedged between the couch cushions? He must have brought it to take pictures of the party. I was curious to see what had happened, so I turned it on and went to the menu to view the pictures.

Oh. My. Death.

I ran to the telephone and dialed Maka's number. "Hello?" Soul answered.

"Hi, it's Tsubaki. Can I talk to Maka?" I stuttered just a tad. Soul sounds so nonchalant! Maybe he doesn't remember what happened? If their "guy's nights" turned out to be drinking parties…

"Sure. _Hey, Maka! Phone! It's Tsubaki!"_

"Hi Tsubaki! What's up?"

"Girls-only meeting at my house, now! It's important!"

"I'll be right there!" Maka said. We hung up and I called Liz's cell phone (the sisters were always out shopping, so Kid had bought them both cell phones). They promised to come over too.

I ran to the computer and printed the photos out so we wouldn't have to huddle around the small camera screen. Oh boy were the others going to enjoy this! I believe this was a perfect time to perform Tsubaki's secret evil laugh!

…

"OK everyone, now that we're all here, I would like to show you some photos of Black*Star's party that I found on this camera. It's kind of disturbing but…" I placed the pictures of Death the Kid and Soul kissing on the table so we could view them. "Black*Star must have taken them."

Liz and Patti were drooling over a particular shot of them whispering to each other.

Maka had such a huge nosebleed, she fainted on the floor, holding a picture of Soul's expectant face.

"Maka?" I worried.

"I don't think she's ever seen yaoi before." Liz assumed, still looking at the pictures. "But I don't think you'll be seeing that shot of Soul any time soon."

"This is the best we've seen in a while! Hey, sis, look at Kid's face in this one! He's blushing!" Patti giggled. "He's so cute!"

"WHERE-AM-I?" Maka rose quickly from the floor.

"Maka's never seen yaoi! Maka's never seen yaoi!" Patti sung.

"What's that? All I care about is why the hell Kid was kissing Soul! I'm going to kill him when I get home!" Maka yelled. I believed that she would kill him, but I hoped that she wouldn't—I was sure there had to be some sort of reason!

Liz explained what yaoi was to a very shocked Maka. "And you guys _like _this sort of thing? Kid and Soul are friends! Just friends!"

"And that's what makes it hotter. And don't you _dare _tell Soul about these. We're keeping these as eye candy or black mail. You can keep that one of just Soul though. Just don't let him see it!" Liz ordered.

She looked at the Soul one again and fainted. Like weapon like meister!

a/n the relationship between me and yaoi is very similar to the relationship between me and horror movies. I say this because I don't like horror movies and when I do watch them I laugh. It's funny. Yaoi, I don't like, and I think it is good comedy. I just wanted to get that out there. NO OFFENSE TO ANYBODY.


	4. Chapter 4

Soul Admiration!

Chapter 4: Maka-Chop! The most uncool day in history?

The ceremony was supposed to be simple. The Shinigami takes off his mask, says a few brief sayings, and hands it to his heir. The audience claps, and we have a party.

But no. This was Death the Kid, of course!

"Hiya everybody! Well, I've been Shinigami for who knows how long, and it's been totally awesome, but I'm stepping down and passing the title to my son, who I feel is ready to take on the responsibility. I'd like to present to you . . . Shinigami Kid!"

Kid took the mask that his father gave him, and spent at least half an hour putting it on. Once satisfied, he finally gave his speech.

Soul translated the speech to be something along the lines of, "Thank you very much for coming tonight . . . symmetry . . . eight . . . asymmetry . . . symmetry is the best thing in the world. . . Shinigami . . . symmetry. . ."

Black*Star's remarks were muffled by the gag Tsubaki put on him to keep him quiet. Liz raised an eyebrow, noticing how easily the ninja weapon was able to get it on him.

Maka was assigned the task to write down everything he said, so that it could go in the history books. She took her job very seriously, and didn't notice her partner falling asleep on her shoulder. If this was any other day, someone would have gotten Maka-chopped.

Eighty-eight minutes later (Kid was mentally timing his speech), the audience was finally allowed to depart to the ballroom for the grand party that was waiting for them.

"Well that was boring." Soul uttered. Unfortunately for him, Maka overheard. Her face immediately turned angry and Soul at least a millisecond to prepare for massive brain trauma.

Maka was about to lift her hand to chop him but then just . . . couldn't. There must have been something wrong with her if she didn't want to hit him! He deserves it! Maka just couldn't will her arm to reach for the book that always crashed down on his head.

"Maka? You OK?" Soul asked, upset from Maka's inaction.

"Soul, quick, make fun of my breasts!" She said in a rush.

"_What?" _

"Just do it!"

"You have tiny tits?" It was slightly nice having the chance to make fun of her, but this was still weird. Was he asking for torture? Soul watched in horror as his partner's face grew red in anger like usual and braced himself for the book that he knew would connect with his skull in 3. . .2. . .1. . . huh?

"I CAN'T DO IT! Why can't I do this? Why why why why why? I should be chopping him!" Maka paced, an action unusual for her. Suddenly she turned to their blue-haired friend, yelling, "Black*Star, tell me I'm weak or whatever!"

5 minutes of insults passed before Black*Star lost breath.

"MAKA-CHOP! I can chop Black*Star but not Soul? What's going on with me?" Maka panicked. She wasn't this frightened when she was fighting Asura! Well, maybe this was on the same level. Her Maka-chops were famous! They were near part of her personality!

She turned up to Soul as if he might have the answer. Her face, though she didn't know it, seemed to be full of wonder and admiration. It was quite possibly creepier than her insane face. "I can't do it!"

"Your Papa will make it better!" The elder of the Albarn scythes appeared out of nowhere.

"You're not my Papa! Chop!"

Two victims lay dying at her feet, the original still intact.

"Maka." Soul placed a tentative hand on her shoulder as she walked back and forth.

"What is it, Soul?" She said sweetly. What was going on? Maka doesn't exactly _do _sweet and innocent! That was what was so frightening about this situation.

"You don't have to chop me . . . if you want, you can just tell me to shut up or whatever." He proposed what seemed like a great compromise. "What do you say, tiny tits?"

Maka's eyes flooded with tears as she found an emo corner. "SOUL DOESN'T LIKE ME! I'M A HORRIBLE WEAPON! NO!" she cried, strangely similar to her father. The albino meister watched in confusion, unsure what to do. Should he apologize? What for? A few minutes ago she wanted him to call her tiny tits!

The other female weapons came to comfort her. "What's wrong, Maka?" Tsubaki asked gently.

"I can't chop Soul, that's what's wrong! I can't even yell at him! This is terrible! And now he doesn't like me!"

The sisters whispered to one another before announcing, "Weapon's Love strikes again!" They high-fived each other, Tsubaki even joining in.

"Huh?"

"Just think about it! If you love someone you're not gonna hit them, right?" Patti giggled.

"But I hit him all the time! And he said I have tiny you-know-whats! He thinks I'm ugly! He wants a prettier weapon!" Tears streamed down her face.

"You're not ugly!" Soul shouted from across the room, afraid to join the girls. "Really!" Which was saying the truth, of course, because even though Maka wasn't stereotypically pretty, Soul still thought she looked, well, nice. Maybe more than that. But that wasn't important right now.

"Then you still want me?" Maka left her corner.

"Yes?" 

"Yay!" She hugged him tightly then left to hug everybody else. Did she finally catch the crazyness that was their boss, Death the Kid? If it was some sort of virus going around, he seriously considered buying some anti-bacterial wipes and cleaning their entire apartment. No matter how uncool and totally germaphobe he might appear.

"_Soul," _Liz hissed, beckoning him with a finger.

"What?" The albino whispered back. He didn't really know her as well as he did the others, but she obviously knew something about Maka's sudden attitude change.

"Do you remember _June 25th_?"

"Kid told you?" Soul said angrily and muttered, "I'll kill him."

Liz pointed to Maka. "And he's your boss, so you can't kill him."

"Oh. I get it, so uncool. . ." he face-palmed and remembered the day that _he _had a random mood swing. Of course, part of it he couldn't remember; partly because he fell unconscious and partly because he had chosen to forget.

_Flashback: June 25th, 1__st__ year at Shibusen (before meeting Blair)_

_It was a cool morning. Maka and I had just gotten back from our 36__th__ pre-kishen soul. It was a pretty quick mission if you ask me; a couple of swings and I swallowed another squishy soul, a taste I was beginning to get partial to. Well, it wasn't the taste exactly; it was the feeling of it going down that was the good part. _

_I followed my nose out of my room and into the kitchen, where Maka was making blueberry pancakes, her favorite breakfast. _I am so lucky to have a meister who cooks_! I caught myself thinking. _

"_Good morning, Soul," Maka said briefly as she sensed my movement. I think she was slightly surprised that I had gotten myself out of bed this morning. Well, I did hit the snooze (aka throw the alarm clock across the room until it shuts up) a few times, but I still got up before she would yell that breakfast was ready. "Why are you smiling?" she sounded highly suspicious._

"_I was smiling? I was just happy that you made pancakes! I love pancakes!" _

"_I thought you hated pancakes."_

"_No I don't! They're the best!"_

"_Ooookay. I'll put these on the table and you go get the maple syrup, 'k?"_

_Immediately I felt myself shoot up and search the pantry for the syrup. Wait, why was I here again? Hey, I hate pancakes! Waffles are definitely cooler than pancakes! Pancakes are only acceptable when they have chocolate chips and are smothered in chocolate syrup and whipped cream (the kind that comes in a can, not the homemade kind)._

_Like Maka the health nut would let me eat chocolate-covered pancakes._

_I tried to scowl, but my out-of-body experience wouldn't stop. I brightened up when I got back to the table, swallowing the breakfast in one bite with a smile, even though I despised pancakes. Pancakes and watermelon are the only foods I can't tolerate. _

_Why watermelon? Ask my brother Wes; he was the one to teach me how to spit seeds—only for me to choke on one, causing me to go to the ER and then get in trouble because spitting wasn't proper or whatever. I'll never eat watermelon again. _

_My day lost its cool as I kept running last night's battle through my head and I couldn't get over how great a meister Maka was. _

_Maka, Maka, Maka. . . my brain chanted as I walked to the Weapon's only class, taught by some really old Deathscythe who retired or something. I usually slept through this class, especially since I didn't have to worry about books crashing on my head. _

"_Soul, why are you skipping?" Black*Star gave me a look as we passed by in the hallway._

"_I was skipping? How uncool." I shook my head vigorously. "No I wasn't."_

"_Uh, yeah, you were." I think this was Black*Star being concerned. _

"_Maybe I just wanted to _skip_ class today." I made a lame excuse, and joke for that matter. _

_We snuck out a back door which led to an unused staircase. It led to our favorite hiding place to go when we were cutting class. It was one of the many balconies on the roof._

_I listened to Black*Star's latest fail—another attempt to peek at his partner, Tsubaki. I didn't blame him, really. 'Star just wasn't that great of an assassin. _

_The lunch bell rang, and a rush of students ran out to claim eating spots. Was that-?_

"_Hi Maka! The coolest partner ever! It's me, Soul!" I waved stupidly from the balcony. When she didn't notice, I shouted desperately, "Maka! Answer me!"_

"_Soul! What are you doing! She'll know our hiding place!" Black*Star said. "She'll tell everybody!"  
><em>

"_Black*Star!" That must have been Tsubaki, worried for her meister._

"_SOUL?"_

"_Maka!" She finally noticed me!_

"_Soul, get down from there!" Maka ordered._

OK! Whatever you say!_ And now for possibly the stupidest thing all day—I jumped off the balcony. People screamed. I screamed. Who wouldn't? I just threw myself off a three story building! _

_Ugh! Fortunately I landed on one of those giant candles, breaking my fall a little. Only, wax wasn't so easy to grab on to so I was falling again._

_I was going to die, wasn't I?_

"_Transform! I'll catch you!" I heard Maka yell, and she caught me expertly. Next thing I knew, I was in the hospital. _

…

_I was told by Dr. Medusa that after Maka saved my life I drifted in and out of consciousness for a few hours. I wasn't horribly injured—only a few cuts and bruises from where I hit the candle. Oh, and I had a visitor._

_Please don't let it be Maka!_

_It was a woman, who introduced herself as Nygus, Sid's weapon. "Soul, I'm going to ask you a question. Answer me honestly. Earlier today, were you having strange thoughts about your meister?" She asked calmly._

"_Yeah, why?"_

"_Soul, have you been paying attention in Weapon's class lately?" When I didn't answer, she explained that today could only be explained by Weapon's Loyalty, and some weapons go through a few hours of, well, an insane mood swing. You know what it sounded like? The movie they show you in school about puberty. Yes, even at my old school they show you the video. _

"_We're not going to give you detention for skipping, but for your sake I wish you good luck on facing Maka. She's very upset with you."_

"_That's punishment enough." I agreed. _

_I was promptly chopped, twice, and forced to strangle out a lie that Black*Star dared me to say those things and as for the fall . . . I tripped. _

…

_I soon realized that my troubles weren't over yet. As soon as I showed my face in school the next day, people were whispering. Every single time I walked into a room people immediately stopped talking. _

_Fed up, I asked Maka, "What are they talking about?"_

"_Yesterday," She hissed. Class was going to start in a few minutes, and she was going over her notes one last time, as if she needed to. _

"_What, how cool my landing was?"_

"_No, you idiot, what happened after I caught your dumb ass." She blushed, very un-Maka like. _

"_Huh?"_

"_Don't you remember? You transformed back into a human, hugged me, and told me how great and wonderful a meister I was, said my breasts were small again, and then had the nerve to kiss me in front of _everyone_!" _

…

_End flashback_

…

"I can handle this." Soul said to Liz. "Besides, I might get something out of this."

Liz raised an eyebrow and snickered. "Like what?"

"Not that! No Maka-chops, that's what I'm saying!"

"Good luck then."

Soul went to the buffet and picked up two plates of food, even if he knew Maka knew he hated eating at parties. He made sure Maka's plate didn't have any fish on it; Maka despised fish. The boy stole a couple of chairs in the corner of the dance floor and called out, "Hey Maka!"

She materialized in the chair next to him. "Hi Soul!"

Soul pushed her plate of food towards her. "Do you remember the day I, um, fell off the roof a few years ago?" He asked seriously.

"Of course I do, coolest meister ever!"

As much as he was enjoying the praise and endless compliments (even though he knew it was true that he was cool) it might be nice to have not happy-go-lucky Maka Albarn around. "And you remember the Weapon's Loyalty thing the girls taught you?"

"It's called Weapon's Love!"

"Whatever. What they _didn't _tell you is that there's sometimes a random time where the weapon has a burst of intense feelings for their meister. I didn't really fall off the roof. I jumped because I thought you needed me or something."

Maka's face was in horror. Soul could have died! All because of this stupid . . . feeling?

"What I'm trying to say is you're going through yours now, so stop worrying about chopping me because I'm sure tomorrow it'll be all better."

"My meister is worried! I'll be just fine! Don't worry about me!" She jumped up to give him a hug. Soul awkwardly patted her back, surprised at the sudden movement.

"So just sit here with me and we can—" The blonde-haired weapon planted a big, fat kiss on Soul's unexpected lips. "M-Maka! Get off! You're not yourself!" He pushed her away.

"Soul doesn't want to kiss me?"

Said meister weighed his pros and cons. 1. She's not herself. 2. It's Maka, for crying out loud! She hates men! 3. What would she think when her mood swing is over? 4. Well, she's sort of sober… 5. He probably wouldn't get another chance later…

_What the hell, _he decided. "I'll kiss you, Maka."

The girl smiled and jumped back on him without hesitation. It sort of reminded him of how Blaire would jump on him in the morning (though she didn't do that as much anymore), but of course there weren't boobs in his face. Just Maka attacking his face with kisses. She wasn't very good at it, by any means, but Soul figured she was just sort-of drunk and it was also her first time kissing somebody.

Of course, there was always a sliver of hope that she might want to try again sometime…

_But only with me. I won't let her kiss anybody else!_

"Hey Maka," he said quietly between breaths.

"Soul?" her eyes seemed to be getting clear. "What happened to me? _Oh my Death!" _Maka noticed the fact that she was sitting on her partner's lap and their faces were only mere inches from each other. She glared at her smirking partner, knowing full well her face was just as red as his eyes, and said, "Take me home."

…

The morning after the party, Soul was rudely awakened by an alert on his cell phone that he had a text message.

"Black*Star." Soul growled and read the text.

-NEW PIX OF PARTY ON B*M! LOOK AT THEM! YOUR GOD COMMANDS YOU.

-FINE, FINE

B*M stood for Black*Mail, Black*Star's second DeathBook account. He created it after he learned that taking blackmail pictures of everybody was a great outlet for his assassin skills. The concept of Black*Mail was to post embarrassing pictures of people so that everybody else could see them. You could also message Black*Mail and request pictures of a specific person.

The name, of course, was supposed to keep things anonymous, but who else puts a star in the middle of a word?

Soul logged on to DeathBook and went to check out B*M. Yep, there was a new album of pictures labeled "_Soul and Maka XD." _ It contained a series of photos the ninja must have taken while the two of them were kissing.

For a second Soul felt betrayed Black*Star put these up (they had a secret agreement that Soul would never be Black*Mailed because of his status of best friend) but realized that the album was probably made for Maka, not him. Oh, she's gonna _love _this!

He laughed at that, and ran into her room. "Maka, wake up!"

She grumbled a 'go away'.

He didn't want to resort to this but . . . "Maka! We're under attack! Transform!"

"What? Where?" She shot up, transforming an arm, and looked for the mystery villain. "Soul!"

"Look on Black*Mail. Now." He tried to look serious.

She was still mad at him, but she was already up, and now very curious. Who was Black*Mailed this time? She secretly hoped it was Ox . . . he made fun of her study habits last week and she could sure use some revenge. But not stooping to ask Black*Star, of all people, for help.

"_Soul and Maka laughing face?" _She whispered aloud and clicked on the link. Her jaw dropped as she viewed the pictures of last night, her smashing her face on his—probably what was supposed to be a kiss. Maka scrolled down to the bottom of the page.

42 likes

Comments:

Black*Star: yeah! Your God approves; be grateful!

Death the Kid: those pictures are actually quite symmetrical…

Ox: Maka, you finally got Black*Mailed! HA!

Tsubaki: Sorry Maka… -_-

Maka frowned. She didn't remember this happening! Soul _said _that she was going through this thing, and it was making her act crazy, but it was just so hard to remember! If that was what being drunk felt like, she was _not _going drinking anytime soon.

She also prided herself on never getting Black*Mailed.

"Why are they all saying _I _got Black*Mailed but not you! You were in the picture too!" Maka grumbled, then screeched, "Eek! What if Papa sees these? Oh my Death, does he read Black*Mail?"

"He asked for shots of Blaire the other day; he doesn't understand how the site works." Soul went back to his room.

56 likes

Comments:

Spirit: Soul! Get away from my Maka!

Soul: Too late XD

Maka: T.T

Spirit: My Maka is crying! I will make it better!

Soul: She's just pissed you found out

Maka: SOUL! That's it, I'm taking these pictures down!

Soul: Everyone's seen them by now

Maka: …


	5. Chapter 5

Soul Admiration!

Chapter 5 Black*Mailed! The Weapons swap stories?

Right before she left for school, Maka checked her DeathBook one last time. It seemed that Soul was correct; everyone in Shibusen had seen the pictures of her (trying) to kiss Soul. Put emphasis on the word _trying. _And why the hell did Soul look so amused? Was he actually enjoying Maka humiliating herself?

Who was she kidding anyway? All she could think about was the last thing she remembered—one moment she was going to chop the hell out of Soul for making fun of Kid's speech and the next she's sitting on Soul's lap trying to kiss him. For some reason.

She almost considered it was her little "IT'S JUST A CRUSH IT'S NOT LIKE I'M IN LOVE WITH HIM HE'S JUST MY WEAPON" that was the explanation for this . . . incident. Maka might have been able to accept this fact, but she also knew she'd never do anything about it. He was too cool for her, the bookworm with "tiny tits". She was content being "just friends".

It was best not to think anything of it. She could still be embarrassed though.

"Being Black*Mailed sucks." Maka muttered before tying her shoelaces into a neat bow. It was weird not wearing her favorite large, buckled boots. Instead, she now opted for a pair of simple sneakers.

Everyone liked her new look—even Soul, who wouldn't give a moment's thought to fashion. Then again, neither did she. Soul at least said it was "cooler". She figured that meant that at least he didn't hate it. But change was good, right? Was that really the reason she gave herself a makeover? Maka was confused.

"Ready to go?" Soul stuck his head through her open door.

"Yeah, let's go." Maka agreed, and reminded him for the 72nd time, "And stop barging in to my room."

"You left the door wide open. I didn't barge in."

"Whatever."

…

"Being Black*Mailed _really _sucks." Maka muttered again as they pulled up to the school. Literally the moment they started walking up the giant staircase leading up to the building did people start whispering to each other, pointing at her and Soul. It was unlike her, but she felt extremely self-conscious, and took a step away from her partner as they walked together.

Soul noticed. "Ignore them."

"Easy for you to say! When you . . . kissed . . . me a year ago, it wasn't posted on DeathBook so that everyone could see! I'm so, so _embarrassed."_

"The great Maka Albarn is embarrassed?" Soul said sarcastically, with a trademark smirk. Maka was never embarrassed, or if she was, she wouldn't admit to it.

"Shut up. I'm going to kill Black*Star when I see him."

True enough, the blue-haired ninja was waiting for them outside of the front door. When he saw Maka and Soul approach the door, he immediately laughed his head off. Maka's veins popped out and she curled her hand into a fist.

Black*Star took Maka's punches without even flinching.

"C'mon, Maka, leave him be, we're going to have some more girl time." Liz said, dragging Maka away from her punching bag of the moment. Tsubaki and Patti followed them.

"But I want to kill him!" Maka whined. "Why didn't you guys go through with all this mess? I thought you said that all weapons do this!"

"You were on a mission when I had my mood swing," Tsubaki started. "Luckily for me, there was no school. It was actually quite funny; I acted just like Black*Star for the entire day! He loved it, and we went around Death City all day screaming that we were both going to surpass God and all that."

"We let Kid make us perfectly symmetrical!" Patti said. "He was so happy!" Symmetrical to the last square inch . . . pretty scary, if you think about it.

"It wouldn't have been so bad if I didn't kiss Soul." Maka said. At first she was going to say that the worst part about it would be that it was caught on film, but people at the party saw first-hand too. They, however, didn't bring cameras with them.

"The school hasn't had any good gossip in a while. That's probably why they're making such a fuss about it. Yeah, the last time things got so exciting was probably when Ox and Kim finally started going out, don't you think so?"

"Yeah, that's probably right." Maka agreed, feeling a little better that it was just because the gossip level was low that this was a big deal. It wasn't just about Maka being Black*Mailed. "It's just—geez. This is so uncool." The weapon-meister picked up her things and left the other three girls, heading inside. Unfortunately, a certain paternal figure was waiting for her.

"Maka, my darling!" Spirit jumped out from behind a corner to (unsuccessfully) give her a hug. A simple side-step and she was able to dodge her father's attack. "Papa won't let that _beast _get to you!"

Maka decided to just roll her eyes; reminding him that he WASN'T her father never worked. She also remembered that her father was a weapon too. "Hey, um, Papa?"

"Yes, my darling?" The man had a huge smile on his face, probably happy that she addressed him as Papa.

"Weapon's Loyalty is the last phase of being a weapon, right?"

"Yes, dear, it is . . . Oh! That must have been what happened! My Maka wouldn't kiss no-good Soul like that!" Then the bi-polar father smiled proudly. "But that means my Maka is all grown up!"

"What happened to you when you had Weapon's Loyalty, Papa?" [aww, father-daughter bonding]

Spirit's face was in horror. "I-I let Stein dissect me . . . willingly. . ."

"What about with Mama?"

"Uh . . . well . . . that's when Mama and Papa made you. . ."

"PAPA!"

~Black*Star's Party part three: Maka and the Photo~

Soul. Was. Kissing. Death the Kid! Liz explained everything to me after I woke up. All I wondered was, why haven't I heard of this before? I'm supposed to be the bookworm! I should know everything! Well . . . something like this probably wouldn't be at the library, and if it was it _definitely _wouldn't be in the sections I go to.

And why did I faint when I saw this photo? I was acting just like my good-for-nothing Papa and my stupid partner whenever Blair pounces on him in the morning! (Or other times of the day, but rarely.)

Stupid Soul. I counted myself lucky that he had locked himself up in his room when I got back to the apartment, because I knew Liz put that picture in my purse while I was in the bathroom. Oh my Death, what if he found it? I had to hide it somewhere…I panicked, looking around my room to search for suitable hiding places.

Duh. I should just get rid of it! Why did I want to keep it so badly? I swooned every time I looked at it! Would Soul notice the blood on the carpet? I had to clean it fast before it stained! Tucking it into my pocket, I ran to the kitchen to get some paper towels.

There! No more blood! Phew. I returned the towels to the kitchen counter.

"Maka, what are you doing?" Soul asked, coming in.

It was all I could do to look at his face and picture him kissing Kid. Oh dear…

"Maka? Maka!"

…

I woke up to Soul's famous smug grin. "You can stop calling me a pervert if all it takes is one look at me to cause a nosebleed. And I don't even faint when I have them!"

"Pervert. Maka-Chop!" He was right, of course. I figured I had five minutes before he woke up so I quickly cleaned up the blood and ran back to my room to hide under the covers of my bed. What do I do now? Every time I see Soul I'm going to faint! And he knows it, too! I can't Maka-Chop him forever!

Soul pounded on my door. "Maka! Maka!"

I didn't answer. He was probably going to make fun of me again, even though it's his fault. Well, I suppose it could have been Kid's fault, but I still blame Soul!

Something slipped under the door. Two things. One was the photo. Crap! It must have fallen out of my pocket, or did Soul notice it when I fainted? Either way, he found it. The other was a note written in Soul's sloppy, angry handwriting:

"_**What are you doing with this picture? Did Black*Star give it to you? 'Cause if he did, he is so dead!"**_

I replied hastily on the same sheet of paper, a page doodled on from his notebook from which he was supposed to be taking notes, "_Tell me what happened last night."_

I heard more scribbles. I guess he was too embarrassed to speak. _**"Black*Star suggested truth or dare…you can guess the rest. Where are the other pictures? I knew he took other ones, but he promised to delete them."**_

"_Black*Star? Promise? All I will say is that the other pictures are safe."_

I heard him sigh, probably frustrated that the pictures were floating around somewhere outside his knowledge, but he trusted me enough to believe that no one else would see them. At least, I hoped so.

"_**Can I come in now?"**_

"_No."_

"_**Too afraid of my coolness? ;P"**_

"_NO!"_

"_**Then come out, oh courageous one!" **_He always knew how to tick me off! I unlocked the door and flung it open.

"Please don't tell anyone! Please please please please pleeeeeeease!" Soul only begged when it was super important, or, at least, important to him, so I found myself giving in to the puppy eyes and nodded. His red eyes made for the perfect hurt puppy look.

"I won't tell anybody, so long as you don't tell anyone about me having a nosebleed. Deal?"

"Deal!"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: We return to the plot! Pumpkin magic to the rescue?

"Another meeting today, huh?" Soul said to Maka.

"Yeah; Kid called last night. But I really wanted to go to class today!" Maka replied.

"Only you would want to go to class."

Maka did not Maka-chop Soul but instead pressed her lips together and gave him a quick glare. She hadn't been chopping him so much, not after the party at Kid's. Oh, it's not worth it, she'd think. But he still wouldn't get away with calling her tiny-tits without a blow to the head.

Soul wasn't sure which he liked better, the Maka-chop or the Maka-glare. He knew he was being stupid for asking this, but, "Why haven't you been chopping me?" came out of his mouth.

"I . . . uh . . . it's just not worth it, that's all." Maka didn't look at Soul as she explained.

Her meister pondered this for a few seconds and decided that it didn't really matter. "What d'you think this meeting's about?"

"I hope it's about the Witch's Library." Maka replied, "All this stuff has been going on, and we've pretty much forgotten about it."

"Yeah. But. . ."

"What?"

"Never mind. It's not important."

"Tell me!"

"It's not important." Soul repeated.

Maka pouted.

"What, it's just that I'm hungry, and also that we haven't been able to go on any normal missions in a while."

"You just ate breakfast, and this is more important than normal missions. Geez, you don't sound cool at all today. Aren't you the one who always likes to charge right into action without thinking?" Maka teased.

"Uh, that's you, 'Ms. Let's use the Black Blood and then give Chrona a big hug' and 'I'm just going to punch the Kishin in the face.'" The meister watched Maka's reaction carefully.

"Says 'Mr. I'm going to kick this window down and get the witch myself' and 'Let's just jump right in front of my meister even though she'll hate you for it.'"

"Phht, you know this scar is cool. See? It reeks coolness." He showed off the scar proudly and boldly lifted Maka's shirt as well to compare them.

"Hey!" She swatted his hands away. "What is with you today?"

"Hey Maka! Maka!"

"What now?"

"It's the situation!"

"Soul, that show is just plain stupid. Not only does it portray—"

"'Sup, Soul!" Seriously, why did someone as annoying as Black*Star have the awesome ability of appearing whenever he wanted? And yes, we know, Gods can do whatever they want.

"Black*Star! Maka hates Jersey Shore!" Soul said.

"Soul, Maka hates TV in general! Unlike the great me, who could watch TV all day!"

"I don't hate TV, just that show! Shut up, Black*Star! TV rots your brain anyway." Maka retorted.

"Says the one who only watches boring documentaries and the news."

"Being informed about the goings-on of the world is very important, Soul!"

"Oh, you're fighting again?" Liz led the squabbling trio into the building. Tsubaki pulled Black*Star out of the fray while she pushed Soul and Maka apart. "Seriously, what is it about this time? Hmph. Whatever." The weapon tossed her brown hair over her shoulder dramatically. It was flirting one moment then giving death threats the next with those two! "Kid's waiting for us."

…

Maka was right. This was about the Witch's Library. At first Kid's serious face looked like this was going to be something along the lines of the symmetry of the school building, but luckily it wasn't. If it was, Black*Star would have gotten bored and ruined more symmetry. Kid knew better than that by now. Tsubaki swore that he was stuck in the land of preschool sometimes. She'd never say this in public, of course, but the truth always does come out at girl's nights, whether it was an exciting game of truth or dare or just complaining about their stupid partners over some chic flicks. The ninja weapon's weakness was M let her eat a few and she'll spill her guts out. Occasionally, literally. Any more than those mini packs you get at Halloween and there you go.

"So. How are we getting in to the Witch's Library?" The M&M-loving weapon asked.

"I know! I know! Just break in! Once they see my face—" They ignored our favorite blue-haired ninja.

"Well, we have the blueprints right here. As much as I hated going through them, because they are unsymmetrical, I have determined that the best way for us to get in is right through here. But it will be very tough. Witches are able to sense when meisters and weapons are coming."

"Can't we just go in as humans? The weapons, I mean." Soul suggested.

Maka shot him a dirty look. "Do you ever pay attention in class? We meisters and weapons give off a different kind of wavelength than regular humans do. The witches will be able to sense that. Ours are much more powerful, so they are more noticeable."

"It was just an idea, geez, no need to get all worked up." He looked away. That was a big mistake!

And when I say big I don't just mean mistake, I mean big breasts smashed on Soul's face. "Blaire is here to help! Oh, sorry scythey-boy…

"Aren't you going to hit scythey-boy?" Blaire teased playfully.

"No. I'm not. Soul, wake up!" Maka ran over to her poor meister's side, not noticing Liz sneaking a cat treat into Blaire's hands. Obviously they had something planned.

"Maka and Soul told me about how you wanted to go in the Witch's Library!" Blaire said. "I asked around to my witch friends, but they don't want anything to do with this, but I can help! I can use my pumpkin magic to create a shield around your wavelengths so the witch guards won't notice you!"

"You can do that?"

"It'll be easy!"

"Hmm. Kid considered. OK. All those without Soul Perception stand in a group. Blaire, you use your magic and we will make sure your plan works." Kid was doubtful of the cat-witch. Or maybe it was just that outfit.

Everyone besides Maka and Kid gathered round, and Blaire said, "Pum-pum-pumpkin shield!"A translucent, orange sheen seemed to cover the group. It was big, but if they had to run they would have to move together. Black*Star wasn't going to like this…

"Soul Perception!"

"Yeah; I can't see the wavelengths!"

"So is this sort of like Soul Protect, Blaire?"

"Yep! Only my shield makes it so it looks like nobody is there. Soul Protect magic is like a disguise; when you have your magic on it just changes what the wavelength looks like. The best witches have I guess you can say multiple disguises. They could make it seem like they were any kind of human."

"Like Medusa." Maka said darkly.

"Yeah, while she was at the school she made it seem like she was a meister. Before she came here, she disguised herself as a human. She really was like a snake. Like one of those snakes who mimic what poisonous snakes look like. Y'know?"

"Wouldn't it be the other way around?"

"Oh . . . yeah . . . oopsy!"

"Only so many people can be under the shield at one time. I suggest having a small group actually go inside of the building and have others waiting outside in case we need backup." Kid said. "Under the shield will be Maka and Soul, since this mission is for them, after all, and myself. Black*Star, if I remember correctly, you can use your assassin skills to erase your presence, correct?"

"As much as it pains me to erase myself . . . being an assassin is more important."

"Yes. I would like you to scout ahead."

"That won't work! The Library is a maze!" the cat interrupted. "How will he know where to go? I will know because of my magic. It can connect to the wards on the building."

"Don't forget, I am the great and only Black*Star! I shall accept this mission."

"OK, nya~ I'm sure you can do it!" Blaire said. "When are we going to do this mission?"

"As soon as possible!" Maka chimed in. She wanted to figure out what the Equilibrium quickly. What if something happened, and it was too late?

"The godly me will allow any time in my schedule." The ninja added.

"I can make the necessary arrangements for tomorrow. There's a day off from school, so that's convenient too, so there won't be any problems gathering backup. I'll probably rally up all of the teachers. I'm sure at least Dr. Stein will be interested in accompanying us. We'll meet here at eight."

…

"I'm so excited! I get to go on a mission with Maka and Soul!" the witch jumped up and down excitedly. Good thing none of the boys were looking her way.

"Don't be so enthusiastic, Blaire. This is important, and really serious." Maka said tonelessly, turning the key to their apartment and opening the door.

"Hmph. Scythe-boy, aren't you excited about tomorrow's mission? You get to be Maka's meister again, right, nya~?"

"Maka's right. We have to stay focused." Soul agreed. "But, um, Maka?"

"What?" His weapon flopped down on the sofa and started to flip through the channels on the TV.

"Why do you keep insisting on being the weapon?"

"What, am I not cool enough to be your weapon?"

"No, that's not it!" He quickly countered. "I just thought since you love being a meister . . . could it be that you like being a weapon more?"

"No." Maka said simply, and changed the subject, "What do you want for dinner?"

"Uh, I dunno. Do we still have that steak? Steak and potatoes sounds pretty good."

"No, we ate that a few days ago, remember?" Maka fumbled around in the refrigerator. "We have some chicken though. That OK?"

"Yeah, whatever." It was now Soul's turn to try and find something interesting to watch on the TV. He chose basketball.

Maka picked up a kitchen knife to prepare the chicken. Ever since she began cooking with her scythe-arm, she and Soul had made an agreement to not use their bionic scythes to cook meat. Or maybe it was that news special about salmonella that creeped them out. They didn't eat chicken for a week.

Why do I want to be his weapon? Maka thought. Why is it so important to me?

She wanted to protect him. She pictured herself when she had jumped out in front of him during that battle with the witch. Why did I do that?

Weapon's Love. Is that it?

~Black*Star's Party part four: Liz, Patti, and what was going through their heads at the meeting~

_Liz_ and Patti

_What could possibly be so important that Tsubaki had to call us over now for?_

Oooh! Pictures!

_Is that . . . Kid? And SOUL? *swoon*_

Ooooooh! Looky at Kid! He's so hot in this picture! Well, he's always hot but ooooh…

_*Prepares to write fanfic* "Kid pushed Soul against the couch, whispering, 'it's OK if you won't admit it…I just want to let you know that I feel the same way…' Kid gently held Soul's face up as they kissed with passion…"_

That hat could really use a giraffe. It's so boring!

"…'_I can't do this, Kid, I just don't know' 'it's OK, Soul, there's nothing wrong with us' Kid removed the hat in order to weave his fingers through Soul's white hair…"_

Looky at Soul! He's blushing! I wonder what he's saying to Kid…

_Oh. It must be the hat, huh? Kid wouldn't kiss someone as asymmetrical as Soul. I wonder what Maka thinks—oh. She had a nosebleed. That's so funny! It's probably because she's never seen stuff like this…_

Silly Maka! 

_I am so totally going to keep these. And I'll sneak that one of Soul in Maka's bag before she leaves…she obviously likes it…it's so cute that she likes him! I guess it's sort of an opposites-attract situation. I should pay attention at school tomorrow and figure out if Soul likes Maka back! They would be so cute together!_

Oh! Look at this one!

_Kid's blushing!_

_Black*Star really IS a God! _

A/n don't make me write Soul X Kid ever again. It gives me the "Excalibur face". Or, rather, tell Liz not to write it.

Liz: Awwww…..dang it!

Snow: yeah, how dare you write fan fiction about your own friends! Especially yaoi! That's weird…the friends and the yaoi, I mean…explain!

Liz: …

Snow: That's what I thought you'd say. Now, I have other things I should be writing!

Liz: like what?

Snow: the next chapter, of course! I have so much stuff planned out! I even want to write a story about you, Patti, and Kid sometime!

Liz: keep talking…

Um…anyway, I was 'hyped up on mountain dew' as I wrote this chapter; isn't it obvious? I went down to the cafeteria and bought mountain dew and M&M's earlier today. Seeing them on my coffee table, I got inspired. By food. Like the whole watermelon and pancakes thing. And tacos. Delicious! *creates feast of afore mentioned foods for Soul Eater cast* (oh wait that's Maka's job, with the cake thing a while back…)

Snow: Maka, it is Soul's birthday next week, and he told me that he wants a giant meal of steak and potatoes, watermelon, and pancakes. To drink he wants mountain dew, and for dessert he wants a cake shaped like a soul with M&M's.

Maka: WHAT?


	7. Chapter 7

Soul Admiration!

Chapter 7 A shocking conclusion! Is the finale good or bad?

~Black*Star's Party final part: Soul and Cooties~

I screamed. What an uncool nightmare! Let's just say it was about last night. As I said to Kid, never choose dare again! After Kid completed his dare, he asked Black*Star truth or dare, but we couldn't think of anything to dare him with that was good enough for payback (except for kissing one of us, of course, but that's not going to happen again) so eventually we just played a new game called Truth or Truth.

That must be Maka knocking on my door. She must have heard me.

"Mmm?" I groaned, and she came in.

"Are you OK? You were screaming!"

Uh, _yeah, _who wouldn't be when they're dreaming of one of their friends who they are _**not sexually attracted to **_was kissing them! Why would I be dreaming of something as uncool as that? I should be dreaming of hot girls! Or, at least, anyone with breasts could count too. Even _Maka _would be better to dream about. Not that I dreamt about her or anything. Yeah.

"Yeah, nightmare," I grumbled. It was 2:00 AM!

"Do you want to talk about it?" Maka said gently.

"I'd rather forget it as soon as possible." I said, giving absolutely nothing away. I never talk about my nightmares, and I wasn't about to start with this one. Nightmares took up most of any dreams that I remembered. I was either dreaming of the red demon, or about kicking Kishin ass. And now this.

"Oh, OK…do you want me to bring you anything? I could make you some tea." She offered. Another thing about Maka—she's always trying to get me something, or help me with something. Especially after the incident with Chrona . . . in fact, I noticed her flinch that lasted a mere millisecond when she came in and saw it. If I hadn't had a nightmare, she probably would have yelled at me to put a shirt on.

"Nah, that's OK…" A really stupid idea came to me. "Could you chop me? Maybe that will make me forget." I swore I always lost some brain cells every time she hit me. And then she complains that I'm stupid or something!

"Nuh-uh. I never Maka-Chop on request." Not true, of course, I asked her once to chop Black*Star and she accepted.

My brain hatched another stupid plan. I did say that even _Maka _would do… I said in my best pretty-please-with-a-prekishin soul-on-top voice, "Then, maybe, could you stay here with me tonight?"

"Eh? WHY?"

"You'll keep the nightmares away."

"Um, well, I guess, if it helps…" Maka said nervously and climbed in the bed, laying down after scooting as far away from me as she could. I, being the cool guy that I am, draped an arm over her. I kind of wanted to bring her in close, but knowing her, she'd flinch and then storm out of my room. After a while I could hear her breathing slow down and I knew she was asleep. I'm pretty sure I fell asleep just a few moments afterward.

…

Well, it seemed to work since I had no more Kid nightmares, but when I woke up I could hear Maka stumble around in the kitchen, probably trying to get the coffee machine to work. Piece of junk. I know she was only making coffee to be nice, since I'm the only one in the house who drinks it. Maka won't let Blair touch anything with caffeine (afraid of what might happen if an animal drinks caffeine, I guess?) and Maka herself is just a morning person so she doesn't need it.

Well, she'll order stuff at Deathbucks once in a while, but it's always the smallest size they come in, and there's so much flavoring you could hardly tell it was coffee. What's the point?

"Shake the machine, call it a few names or threaten it, and then push the buttons repeatedly. Works every time."

She half-heartedly shook the stupid coffeemaker and said, "You better make Soul's coffee, you stupid piece of junk, or I'll slice you in half!"

"Watch and learn." I nudged my meister out of the way to violently punch the coffeemaker into submission. "Make my coffee, you!%*&!^%$*!**(^(*&^!&#^%#^&(&#" I pressed the button a dozen times and finally the wonderful smell of delicious coffee started.

"I'm debating if I should be offended or if I should just buy a new coffee machine." Maka said simply. She doesn't like, and I quote, _excessive_ swearing. This was her come back when I pointed out she was being a hypocrite when she said she hated swearing and yet would mutter curses under her breath while fighting or let one slip occasionally if the situation (apparently) demanded it. I, of course, being her scythe, can hear everything she's saying.

"As long as I get my caffeine, I don't care really." I chugged the hot beverage, burning my tongue. Crap. A burnt tongue was always a premonition that the day was gonna suck.

…

School for me was a place to sleep and see my friends. Oh, and practice new moves with Maka. We had class, y'know, class in the classroom until noon, lunchtime (another favorite of mine) and the rest of the day was either spent on physical training or resonance training, depending on the day of the week. Mondays were physical training. Maka and I were working on a new backwards kick that the blade master was showing us.

We were the only scythe pair besides Maka's dad and Stein, so when they weren't there we practiced with the swords, which meant we had to listen to Mr. and Mrs. Forge a lot of the time. Mr. Forge was the meister; after the two had gotten married they decided to quit their mission to make Mrs. Forge a deathscythe and become teachers instead.

It was a difficult job to be in charge of the swords—there were many sub-types of that weapon group. Broadswords…fencing swords…daggers…and us. Black*Star was here sometimes too, when his so-called "godly instinct" told him to practice with Tsubaki's ninja blade mode.

Anyway, I was predicting that we'd run into our blue-haired friend in a few seconds, and then Kid and the sisters would come a few moments afterward. Oh no. Kid. I have to play it cool! More importantly, it was Black*Star's fault for all of this mess.

"Hey, Soul! It's me, your God! So how'd you like the party? It was awesome, right?" He said loudly.

I glared at him. Uncool of me, I know, but I really did work my red eyes to their fullest potential when glaring or giving the hurt puppy look. Which one was more dangerous, I wondered? Either way I would win.

"Why are you angry at me?"

"You know why." I hissed.

He honestly didn't know.

3-2-1 Kid appeared. He did not, however, greet us with something cheery like, "What a symmetrical day" or whatever crap like that, but just looked at Black*Star and said "Hello" in a monotone voice.

Later in class I remembered that Maka had one of the pictures, so I threw him a note. He sat in front of me.

_**Black*Star didn't delete the pictures. Maka has one; the Thompsons prolly have the others**_

THAT MAKES SENSE NOW he threw back after a half an hour of making sure each letter was straight. THEY WERE LAUGHING YESTERDAY

Yeah, I bet they were. They looked a little too innocent to me.

The girls left to do something, and Black*Star went to spy on them. "So . . . what are we going to do with the pictures? Do you think Black*Star gave them to the Thompsons? Or Tsubaki found them?"

"Tsubaki would never do that. Either way, I'm surprised Maka had one." Kid said. Exactly what I was thinking.

"Yeah, they probably gave it to her as a joke. Maka was looking at it at the house, and she had a nosebleed and fainted! I guess I'm too cool for even her!" I laughed loudly. Kid couldn't help but chuckle, but he still remained serious as always.

"Should I take the pictures back from Liz and Patti? I don't even know if they have them."

"There you are! Liz, Patti and I are all packed up and ready to go!" Maka suddenly appeared from around the corner. I swear, I need to figure out how she does that! Being startled is so not cool.

"Huh?"

"Don't you remember? We have a mission today! This time we're partnered up with Kid, since they want us to change it up." Maka explained. Also, she was mad at Black*Star for some reason and didn't want to fight with him. Girls.

I scowled. Just my luck! I knew it was the coffee! The one person I don't want to see I have to go on a mission with! But yeah, I remember now. That's why Maka was so pissed that guy's night was this weekend. She wanted us to be rested and ready to go the next day.

"You'll get souls to eat. . ."

I was drooling by that point.

…

The mission was really, really easy, if I must say so myself. We drove to a town in Oregon, and found a few prekishins hanging out. It was a relief transforming into my weapon form after all that had went through my head today and just focusing on the battle.

When the battle was over, it started to rain, and I got cold. I guess that's what you get for getting used to living in a desert! Shivering wasn't cool either, especially when Maka noticed. She apparently brought a raincoat.

"It's cold." I complained.

"I brought the hat I bought you because I knew it would get cold." She suggested. My eyes bugged out at the sight of it. I hid that damned hat in the back of my closet when I got back to the house! (After considering throwing it in the trash, of course, but Maka would see it there and yell.) Don't tell me she fished through my entire closet just to find that stupid hat! What was so special about it anyway?

"Maka…Maka no, not the hat! PLEASE!"

"I bought it for you, so wear it!" I could hear her temper rise.

"I wore it, to the party! I promise!"

She attacked me, shoving the hat on my head while Kid watched.

"Kid, Kid no, get away from me!" I yelled, hoping to get him to snap out of it. He was walking towards me with a smile on his face. I was too frozen to move.

"I could kiss you right now." He said again in that stupid oh-beautiful-symmetry voice. Now I ran like hell.

"The hat!" Maka said, lightbulb going off in her oh-so-brilliant head. "Kid!"

"AAAAHHHhhh…"

Maka used that new kick we were working on, growled, and ripped the hat in two. "I'm sorry, Soul. I didn't know." She apologized while Kid fainted on the ground.

"You saved me!"

"Soul cooties!" Maybe she didn't appreciate my lips on her cheeks after all.

A/n I have get some of my friends to cosplay with me some time. I will either be Soul, or Maka with a home-made scythe! Mwahahahaha! Too bad I look like the opposite of Maka…no, really, I'm comparing Maka to me and we are exact opposites…except that we both are smart and love twirling giant scythes around. And love Soul. Heck yeah! But I will let her have him because I would probably kill him with the sound of my mighty fan girl squeal! Or maybe I would die first out of shock. Yep, I think I would die first. *tries to get hair in pigtails but hair is too short*


	8. Chapter 8

Soul Admiration!

Chapter 8: An astonishing reunion! The siege of the Witch's Library begins?

"We're going in." Kid spoke to the walkie-talkies that we were all carrying. Earlier a parameter of other powerful meister-weapon pairs was set up for backup.

"Makaaaaa! Be careful, my little angel!" Spirit reported in his walkie-talkie. Stein tugged the device out of his hands before he could get them caught.

"Affirmative." Sid and some other meisters said. "Good luck."

"Blaire, put the pumpkin shield up now. Black*Star, would you erase your presence?"

"Pum-pum-pumpkin shield!" Blaire chanted as Black*Star repeated his assassin's mantra.

"Lead the way, Blaire."

The cat led them through a side entrance; even though their soul's wavelengths disappeared, it would probably still be best if they didn't waltz through the main entrance.

The route that Blaire was taking them, she said earlier, was going to be through some of the unused reading rooms and rarely used, secret vaults. She said that the most used books were branched off from the main lobby, mostly potion books, and given their limited knowledge on the Soul Equilibrium, the book they were looking for was likely to be in the section dedicated to meisters and weapons.

They didn't see any witches, but they still kept silent and tread carefully through the dungeon-esque hallways lit by only weak torches.

"Hello? Is someone there?" Called a nervous voice. It was funny to Maka how the witch standing at the other end of the hallway looked just like a panicky teenager lost in a library. Not that she'd ever been lost in a library. Ahem.

"Master? Nya~?" Blaire, still in cat form, leaped off of her perch on Maka's head and neared the witch girl. She resembled Blaire in her human form, but with smaller breasts and possibly a few inches shorter. Or maybe it was just the cat's obsession with heels.

"Blaire? Blaire! I've been looking all over for you!" The witch glomped on to her cat, causing a minor scuffle, as cats do not appreciate being glomped on.

"I missed you too, master!"

"But Blaire, why did you bring meisters and weapons here? Did they kidnap you? Did they hurt you?"

"They are my friends! Uh-oh…" In her joy of reuniting with her master, Blaire had let the pumpkin shield down by losing her concentration.

The weapons did not transform right away; there was only one witch and she did not appear hostile…yet. Maybe, just maybe, she'd let them go.

Unfortunately for them, the young witch was scared. She was not very powerful; making Blaire was probably the extent of her powers and she wasn't very good at battling. So instead, she called upon some source of magic which triggered an alarm of some sort. Witches and other creatures were quickly advancing on them.

"Soul, Maka, you guys go on ahead, you've got to get the book." Kid ordered. "We'll keep these guys at bay. Black*Star, back me up."

Another mistake. "You're backing me up."

"Not this again…"

Soul ran, holding scythe-Maka, killing off any creatures that stood in their way. He didn't dare face any of the witches, because although they had defeated one, Maka was not a deathscythe yet.

"Where are you going?" Maka yelled to her meister.

"I thought you knew! Use Soul Perception or something and figure out where the book is!"

"You idiot! Soul Perception!" She was doubtful that her power was going to be of any use here, and she was right. Everything in the building seemed so cloudy, as if they were running through a fog. Maka also wasn't going to mention how many witches occupied the library. "Sorry, doesn't work!"

Soul hid behind a corner to catch his breath. The Witch's Library was really large, to say the least. "What do we do now?" He asked helplessly. So uncool. "Geez. You should really be in your element in a library like this." He tried to joke.

"Over there!"

"What?"

"A catalog!" The green scythe transformed back into a human and opened the large book placed on a pedestal. To Soul's dismay, the book looked three, no, maybe even four times thicker than any of the books he'd been chopped with. "Row 42. C'mon!"

"Soul . . . this bookshelf, it looks like the one in my Soul Room. . ." Maka stared at the shelf, mesmerized by the similarities between the two. They were identical down to the very last exquisite carvings emblazoned on the sides and the soul shaped book ends. The only difference seemed to be the contents. Most of these books were in the witch language. It was lucky that the index that Maka looked at had a section for every language that existed on Earth, except for the ancient vampire language. The witches killed off all of the vampires a long time ago, along with their literature. (The sparkles would blind their eyes until they couldn't fly straight.)

"It should be right here!" Maka said in frustration, then pouring through all of the books around it to see if it had just been misplaced by a few books.

Unlike the vampires, the witches weren't that stupid. You had to have witch blood if you wanted to even touch one of the shelves. A magical trap was triggered, and slowly Maka felt herself drown in the darkness…

…

"Where am I?" Maka asked aloud. It looked like she had returned to the black space that she occupied when she was in weapon form. She looked in all directions and couldn't see a thing. "Is that the way out?" Maka wondered, and swam deeper into the darkness. A crack of light appeared from underground. She tugged at it with all her strength until it burst open, and she fell down.

_Ouch! _Maka fell quite ungracefully in . . . a movie theater? _The Memory Theater! _Without even thinking of a memory the curtains flew open. Perhaps it was trying to tell her something?

"_There's a book that has some information that might be there. It's about some special powers that Soul and I seem to possess."_

_Maka and Soul were in the kitchen, talking to Blaire._

"_A book, nya~? Maka loves her books! Hehe, I'm surprised you don't own it already!"_

…

_Maka, marveling at the sight of her Bookshelf._

"_It's every book you've ever read. I'd know, since you've hit me with each and every one." A familiar voice said._

"_What are you doing here, Soul?" Sure enough, the pinstriped Soul came out of the shadows._

"_Hey Maka." He grinned, showing off his sharp teeth._

…

_A little Maka, sitting in her Papa's lap as he read to her. "This book, Maka, is about famous meisters and weapons! I think you'll enjoy it!"_

"'_Cuz Imma going' to be the best meister evar!"_

"'_What the witch _didn't _know was that Joan of Arc and Prince Charles were both meister _and _weapon, which gave them the special ability of Soul Equilibrium. Using this power was very dangerous—used improperly and both of them would die in an instant. But they decided to risk it, because it would save their country. _

"_Because you see, the Equilibrium is an upgraded form of Resonance. A weapon resonates with a meister at the same time as the meister resonates with a weapon. So it's two times the power, but also more dangerous. Together, Joan and Charles shouted, 'Soul Equilibrium!' and saved France.'"_

"_Isn't that book a little advanced for a six-year-old?" Mama called from the kitchen._

"_I wanna be a weapon-meister and save people! Soul Equ-a-li-brium!"_

…

_Maka, older. After her father's betrayal, she tore up things that reminded her of him. The book he used to read, 'Famous Meisters and Weapons', was one of them. After she tore a few pages out, she looked at it again._

"_I'll be famous. Just you wait. I'll create a deathscythe better than you, and be just as good as Mama!"_

…

"I had the book all along? I've got to go find it!" Maka shot up suddenly, dashing to the Bookshelf. _There! _She opened the book to read its contents and came to.

A/n check out the Wikipedia article on Joan of Arc, 'cause she's a meister in my fic. Prince Charles VII was her weapon, which kind of doesn't make sense, but he and his father had some 'madness' so case closed. Yep, that's the word they used. But please, iTunes, please don't play Maka's theme song 'The Only Exception' by Paramore _right as I'm writing her memory of her ripping the book up. _I loved this chapter, can you tell? Oh, and little Maka is really adorable!


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Confessions! The battle continues?

"Maka! _Maka_! Wake up…they're coming! I need you…Maka…" Soul worried, shaking the girl's shoulders. He had woken up first, and found his partner still unconscious. The trap that they triggered not only knocked them out, so hard that they retreated into their souls, but witches from all over the library knew where they were and guards were coming.

As powerful as Black*Star and Kid were, they were facing some pretty powerful enemies. A 3-star meister (and qualified paparazzi assassin), a Shinigami, and three deathscythes? It was still a strong team. Well…a strong Black*Star backed up by Kid, of course.

"Soul? Is that you?" Maka said in a haze.

"Who else, idiot?" Soul tried to smile jokingly. "Hurry up and transform already!"

"On it!" She pushed herself up off the ground and transformed into Soul's hands. He spun his scythe gracefully (he'd been working on it) and stopped in a cool pose.

Creatures of all sorts were their opponent. Werewolves, goblins, hybrid beasts, and something that was so mangled Soul wasn't sure if it even had a name. Yelling a battle cry that was strangely reminiscent to one of Soul's favorite action movies, he rushed into the fray.

Most of the lesser demons were knocked out with a single swipe of Maka's scythe form, but the goblins had the nasty habit of ganging up on Soul, and one had the nerve to pull at his hair. He punched the little gremlin in the gut, so hard it caused him to dissolve into nothingness. No one, nobody except for maybe Maka, is allowed to touch Soul's awesome white hair.

"Only Maka can touch my hair, you brat!" Soul yelled.

"WHAT?" Maka said to herself, very, very confused. She didn't want to touch his hair . . . was Soul going crazy? I mean, first it was _her _hair, and now his own? Geez! They're just dead cells protruding from the top of your head! Maybe it was his dream to become a hair stylist. How long, exactly, did it take him to do his signature hairstyle?

The meister leapt off of one of the bookshelves, throwing a dramatic arc to nail a werewolf in the face. It made a very satisfying squishy sound, thought the blood-lusting, albino teenager with a giant scythe.

Meanwhile, Maka couldn't help but freak out over the mistreated books that were shamelessly being tossed around during the battle. A weak demon was treating some of the books like dodgeballs, not knowing that Soul was the self-proclaimed dodgeball champion of his elementary school. "Do _not _diss my piano, jerk." He would say menacingly. As much as piano lessons were annoying, being called a wuss over a stupid instrument got to him. Maybe his self-esteem wasn't as great as previously thought.

Oh. Right. These were magical books, not dodgeballs. One smacked him square in the chest and sent him flying backward.

"Soul! Quit daydreaming about hair and focus! Let's use Soul Resonance!"

The boy mentally kicked himself for thinking about Maka weaving her fingers through his hair. Stupid gremlin, that made him lose his concentration! They would be sitting on the couch in their living room together, and Maka would rest her head on his shoulder and pet his hair. Then, because he was cool, he would lean in for a kiss . . . uh. . .

"LET'S GO SOUL RESONANCE!" Inside his head, Soul remembered Maka's melody, the song that reminded him of her whenever he heard it. (Which was all the time, because it was first on his iPod playlist.) This was how he had learned how to start the Resonance link. Maka would catch on to the notes—not really understanding, but feeling somehow that this song was about _her—_and their souls would connect. It wasn't like Maka's method of picturing their souls combining together to form a single entity.

And it definitely wasn't like Black*Star's method, which was rising Tsubaki up to his level of godliness.

"Genie Hunter!" He swung the more advanced attack at his opponents, destroying a considerable amount, but there were just so many . . . Maka's blade went back into its normal mode.

Soul looked at his weapon, who was shouting through her blade's reflection.

"Geez, no need to shout, you have my attention!"

"Hmph. Quick, come into my Soul Room, we need to talk while we have a chance."

Soul obeyed, allowing himself to dissolve into the darkness that was the dimension between souls. The next time he opened his eyes, he saw his partner sitting calmly at a desk in her Soul Room. One book lay open on the desk, and an open chair was waiting for him.

"'Sup, Maka?" He announced, coming over.

"Do you remember how I told you my Papa used to read to me when I was little? I told you that after we took the Super Written Exam, right?" Maka said.

"Sure I do, you were looking at that album, and then Blaire gave you that present."

"I thought we agreed never to speak of that. Stupid Papa, he shouldn't have trusted Blaire with that money."

"Yeah, yeah." He then was reminded of the time Black*Star stole all of the underwear in Maka's drawers, forcing her to wear the infamous present as she went to the store to buy more rainbow packs of underwear and bras made for 10-year-olds that thought they had boobs but really didn't. Soul stopped internally laughing when he remembered how many Maka-chops he got that day.

The boy, finding he was wearing that pinstriped suit, sat down in the chair opposite Maka. He noticed how Maka was wearing her usual school uniform instead of the new look that she wore now. The pigtail prison was back, too.

"Well you see, when I was out, I figured out where the scrap of paper that mentions the Equilibrium was from. It was from a book Papa used to read to me a lot as a kid. After he divorced Mama, I tore it up because it reminded me of him." Maka showed Soul how she was patching up the poor book with some scotch tape.

"Maka destroyed a book? Never thought I'd ever see the day!" He said. "Hey, let me see that . . . hey! That's the book I told you about!"

"What book?"

"The one that I read when I skipped class to go to the library. I was telling you about how I first found out that I was a weapon."

"Oh! That's interesting . . . I guess . . . but it says here that the Soul Equilibrium is basically two Resonances in one, so it's more powerful and also more dangerous. If we don't do it right, we'll die!"

"Let me get this straight: when we use this power, the scythe you is resonating with human me and the human you is resonating with scythe me at the same time?"

"Yes, but there's more to it than that." Maka said, turning the page. "You see, as rare as weapon-meister pairs are, they also have to be pretty much polar opposites on a personality level. Think about how different we are, yet we can still resonate and understand each other . . . most of the time anyway. It's just like algebra, when you're balancing each side of the equation. Or chemistry, when you're working with chemical reactions."

"Enough math! Enough science! You're sounding like Stein!"

"Says the one who's thinking about hair." She replied tonelessly.

"Are my thoughts not private anymore?"

"I _promised _that I'd never read your mind through Soul Perception, but I can't help but overhearing when you're practically _screaming _them out loud. Why do you want me to do that anyway? I don't get it."

"I . . . uh. . ." The answer was coming in Soul's mind, but he wasn't exactly sure if he liked it just yet.

"Whatever. What I need to say is that resonating at that level is really dangerous, and we might die." For a brief moment Maka remembered that most of their missions were highly dangerous, and they could have died in any of them. This mission, too, was one of their most deadly.

"If we die, we die cool." Soul replied. "And you know that I would die for you any day."

Maka nodded. "I'm your weapon partner. That means I'm always prepared to die for my meister. You said that, remember? Now if we'd both die for each other, then, well, we can take the risk."

Soul sighed deeply, realizing that she was right. Still… "You'd die for me?"

"Mm-mm." Maka twiddled her thumbs meekly. "Truth is . . . I . . . kind of . . ."

"Kind of what?"

"I THINK I LOVE YOU!"

a/n gasp! Finally, the truth comes out! I was thinking to myself as I was writing the battle scene, and I was like, "this is so boring!" And when I wrote the dodgeball line it kind of went downhill from there…or maybe it was the hair… *is picturing Soul using his scythe to cut hair*


	10. Chapter 10

Soul Admiration!

Chapter 10: No kisses on the battlefield! Why are there meisters on this plane?

Black*Star and Kid faced a small group of witches who were in the same mood as Maka most of the time in the evenings: angry because her reading time was interrupted. In fact, one witch had green eyes like Maka's, and the expression on her face was eerily like their friend.

"You ready, Black*Star?" Kid asked the ninja.

"Ready? I was born ready!"

Kid began to fire wavelength bullets while Black*Star rushed into the fray, Tsubaki in her enchanted sword mode in his hands. It was a good thing he was quick on his feet; going against his godly fighting style, he did have to dodge a few attacks.

Meanwhile the two sisters were talking to each other.

"Do you feel that, sis?" Patti asked. She felt a surge of power through her veins, but couldn't quite describe it out loud.

"Yeah, I feel more powerful than usual! It must be because Kid's Shinigami now!"

"Ninja star mode, Tsubaki!" Black*Star said and threw the star, catching it as it returned like a boomerang. He made it look so easy! To him, throwing Tsubaki around was as easy as throwing a Frisbee. "You can't beat me! Yahoo!"

"Death cannon!" Kid used his signature move.

"HEY!" Black*Star complained. "Don't steal my spotlight!"

…

"Master! It's great to see you…"

The witch ran up to the cat and squished her tight to her chest. "Oh, I've missed you so much Blaire! I thought I'd never see you again and—" She snuggled with the cat, who was squirming to get out.

_Poof! _Blaire switched back into human form. "I love you too, master, but…"

"But what?"

"Those guys are my friends…" Blaire said timidly.

"But . . . they are meisters and weapons. . ." The witch replied, confused. She thought that the people at Shibusen must have catnapped her cat.

"Yeah . . . we just wanted to see a book here . . . nya~"

Suddenly a very annoying beeping noise began ringing. It hurt Blaire's cat ears, and she tugged her hat lower to hopefully muff the sound.

"Oh, now they've done it! They've triggered the alarm!"

Blaire _poofed _again and started running as a cat.

"I have to help them, nya~!"

"But—Blaire!" The witch cried.

"I'm sorry, master, Soul and Maka are my friends!"

…

"I think I love you!" Her face flushed red, and she looked down at her shoes. "I just wanted to . . . to t-tell you in c-case something happened."

Soul wasn't that great with words. He attributed it to just being a guy, and besides, words weren't cool anyway. So could you say that he was better at expressing himself through actions? Maybe. Did he know how to express this? The answer was a big, fat NO. So he just stood there, mouth hanging open in what was probably shock.

_How do you say I love you too without sounding uncool? _The albino immediately started rushing through some lines from movies and some lyrics from songs. He didn't realize that he was saying all of this out loud. Maka was confused, and hurt.

"I am so uncool . . . can't think of something cool to say. Yeah. I love you too."

Maka stopped playing with her fingers and ran over to her meister, surprised smile on her face. "What happens now?"

"I have no idea, but we better use the Equilibrium now if we want to win this battle."

"OK." Maka was secretly hoping Soul would kiss her, just like in her romance novels, but then again, they were on a battlefield, not the most romantic of places. So she smiled, and they shouted together, "Let's go, Soul Equilibrium!"

At the end of the battle cry they stood not Soul with his weapon but Soul holding Maka while Maka held him. The blades of their scythes grew to form crescents like it would during Witch Hunter, with the same rainbow effects, one darker than the other to form a ying-yang. One arc and the giant symbol spread across the battlefield.

The pair watched as their attack destroyed the rest of their foes in one hit. The attack over, they stood proudly as two humans smiling next to each other.

"Pretty cool move we have, eh, Maka?" Soul said, flashing a huge smirk.

"Yep!" Maka suddenly turned around at the sound of a large gasp. "Kid?"

The Shinigami was rounding the corner and was in awe. "That was—"

"—Perfectly symmetrical." Soul and Maka finished for him at the same time in a toneless voice.

"YES! How does it feel to be symmetrical? Oh, I'm sure it feels fantastic! Tell me, Maka!" Kid took Maka away and chatted happily. He knew for a fact that if he asked Soul for details he would probably give a quick shrug, saying it was cool, and stuff his hands in his pockets again. He was right, of course; he was just returning to his signature slouch as they began their trek to the entrance they came in though.

"Soul! Soul! You're not listening to the great ME!" Black*Star whined as Soul wished Maka would stop talking all academic-like with Kid and talk to him instead. Didn't they just-?

Black*Star paused for a moment, confused by his friend's sleepwalk, and concluded, "is this because you finally confessed your misguided love?"

"Mis . . . guided?" Soul asked, putting his hands in his pockets again. Maka wasn't going to stop talking soon, he could tell.

"Yes! You should love the great ME, for I have surpassed God! Not measly Maka, who is a mere mortal! I know you are obsessed with her flat chest and boring hair, but—"

"You _do _realize that you're mortal too, y'know." Soul interrupted. "And dude, I'm straight." Fed up after a few minutes of Black*Star's continuing rants, he yelled, "HEY TSUBAKI!"

The ninja weapon ran back from where she was walking with Liz and Patti and placed a hand on Black*Star's shoulder. "Black*Star, I bet Soul is tired, so maybe you should leave him alone for a bit…"

"Hmph." The assassin grunted, agreeing with his partner.

Finally free of his pestering friend, Soul tried to catch up to Maka, only to miss her as her stupid Papa hugged her. It seemed like the back-up crew were waiting patiently at the secret entrance.

"MAKA MY ANGEL! I'm so glad you're safe!"

_She's my angel too, y'know…_ Soul pouted as he tried to get her attention. Unfortunately for him, the adults were all wondering what happened and Maka was more than happy to explain the events that had taken place in the Soul Room . . . except for the part where she _said she loved him. _So . . . why was she avoiding him now? Getting annoyed wasn't cool at all.

….

On the plane ride back home to Shibusen, Soul tried unsuccessfully to stretch out his legs. The small sitting space was the least of his worries of plane travel, however. No matter where he went, no matter which airport or any precautions he ever took, he _always got stuck at airport security. _Of course he did; he was technically made of metal, after all! Well, the Thompson sisters had it worse, since they were guns. However, they used their . . . feminine charms . . . to sway the security from taking too long.

Soul wondered if people were discriminating him because of his hair and eyes. Not to mention his smile. Yep; it was definitely his smile.

Anyway, he was trying to get comfortable in his seat when he heard a _thunk _in the seat next to him. Maka had fallen asleep a while ago, and now her head fell on the armrest. Being the cool guy that he is,

Soul took Maka's pillow and carefully wedged it under her head. She looked a little more comfortable that way.

_I think I love you! _

_Yeah . . . I love you too. _

Did he actually say that? Did that really happen? They actually confessed their love to each other?

Soul looked away for a moment, embarrassed and deep in thought. Taking advantage of the fact that Maka was a heavy sleeper (and somehow able to sleep on a plane; must be because she was reading a book earlier, how boring), he patted her head and trailed his fingers through her hair. He loved the way it felt against his hand.

And then it was time for the stupidest thing he had ever decided to do so far (well, not really) . . . he leaned over and kissed her forehead gently. Maka didn't stir, but he swore he saw a slight smile on her face. Soul sat back upright and tried to mirror her grin, but ended up smirking again. Maybe there was something wrong with the muscles in his face, if he wasn't able to mimic a . . . normal smile?

Something jumped up on Soul's lap, startling him. It was Blaire, thankfully in cat form.

"Did you just give Maka a kiss, nya~? Give Blaire one too!"

"Get one from Spirit, Blaire!" Soul pushed the cat off of his lap, earning a jealous hiss.

In fact, the elder deathscythe was walking down the aisle, following the woman who was giving out snacks. "I'll let you fly my plane any day!" Spirit gave his best smile to the busty woman, who giggled. He never changed!

Soul allowed his head to fall on the armrest of his chair and slept happily for the rest of the flight.

My reoccurring OC Side Story: Sex ed for meisters and weapons

_Nicole POV_

"SAM! Get your butt out of bed! We have school today!" I banged on his door. Usually he's pretty good at getting himself up and ready to go, but ever since we started going on missions…not so much. At first I thought it was a weapon thing, but the other weapons in our class seemed just fine to me.

"OK, OK, I'm up." I could hear his voice from inside his room. Good. He's alive.

"Hurry up; Mrs. Stein says her husband's coming in for a special lesson today!" Our teacher, Marie, had just gotten married to another teacher, Dr. Stein, a few months ago, and we were all very excited for her.

"Oh yeah, Dr. Stein." Sam said. I recalled the day I had been sick and Sam fought with Dr. Stein. He said he was scary at first, probably because of the rumors, but after they started fighting he trusted him a lot. He was one of the best meisters at the academy, and Sam looked up to him. That's why I have another goal besides to make Sam a deathscythe: I want to be a three-star meister.

Maybe then Sam might pay attention to me . . . the real me, of course. I don't want to be just his meister, the "chick with the boobs", as dubbed by him once. His name for me _is _Melons, after all.

"What's wrong, Melons?"-See what I mean?-"I thought you were excited to go to school today."

"Oh, nothing, let's just go." We picked up our skateboards and left.

…

It was ten minutes after the bell and our guest speaker hadn't shown up yet. The rest of the class was getting fidgety and started to whisper to each other.

Suddenly we heard a pair of squeaky wheels and Dr. Stein, rolling on an office chair, jumped into the classroom. "Sorry class, I was in the middle of a dissection . . . today I'm your guest speaker, and lucky for you guys it's not a dissection lab! No, today's lesson is much more exciting!"

He wrote in giant letters on the chalkboard: _Sex ed for meisters and weapons_

I frowned; we did this last year at my old school, you know, the "normal" school. However, some of the kids here had gone to Shibusen for most of their education (not learning about fighting, of course) and so hadn't done this yet. Lots of the boys chuckled with their friends. Sam did too; on his other side sat his friend Greg, a meister.

I endured plenty of giggles as Dr. Stein explained _every last freaking detail _to us. He seemed especially excited talking about the body because he likes to dissect things, including organs. Creep. Another rumor was that he used to perform operations on his old weapon partner, the red-headed man who keeps following me around, that big pervert. He's supposed to be a deathscythe! Shouldn't he have work to do or something?

"OK class, now that _that's _over, we can talk about the really interesting stuff! First of all, who can tell me the first basic property of wavelengths? Anyone?"

I raised my hand.

"Yes?"

"A soul wavelength cannot be created nor destroyed." I said in a bored tone. Even in death a faint wavelength emits from the corpse. Powerful meisters, like Stein, can read the dead wavelengths and can tell how long a body has been dead.

"Correct! But there is only one exception to this property—when a male sperm cell connects with a female egg cell, they create a brand-new wavelength. Each sex cell contributes part of the new soul wavelength. That's why each person's soul wavelength is unique."

"But professor, isn't that like combining two wavelengths together? That wouldn't be creating a new one." Somebody asked from the front row. I considered them brave, speaking in Dr. Stein's presence. He was pretty intimidating, and I wouldn't want to speak in his class without raising my hand first.

"Good question! Indeed, that was the first theory to how new souls were made, but alas, because the new soul can be so radically different from the parents', it is more likely that it is a new wavelength being made." The professor explained. "Besides, when looked at mathematically, combining two wavelengths would double the strength of the new one, which doesn't happen."

"What about twins?" I heard Mary—or was it Sue?—ask from the far left corner of the room. I counted them as my friends. They were dual swords, so they took turns being each other's meisters. It was understandable that they would ask about twins, seeming as they were.

"Hmm, twins. . ." Dr. Stein mused. "It is the same principle. If it wasn't, you would be perfect copies of each other, wouldn't you? You're two very different people, even if you look the same." Mary and Sue nodded happily. "Now, can anyone tell me what this all has to do with Soul Resonance?"

I tried really hard to think, I really did. Sure, I could understand how the first basic principle of wavelengths had to do with sex cells and all that, but Soul Resonance? The sharing of one wavelength that the meister and weapon create together by combining theirs. . .

It came to me.

"Melons, what's wrong, you look paler than usual." Sam whispered to my right.

"Looks like someone figured it out!" Stein chuckled evilly. It reminded him of Maka's face when they had their oh-so-wonderful sex ed lecture. She, too, was the first to figure it out before he went ahead and told them. "Yes, class, during sex you're Soul Resonating! It's the one way non-meisters or weapons can Resonate. It's almost as interesting as dissections…"

Needless to say, no one wanted to go to Resonance Practice that afternoon.

a/n: what, I ran out of names! Mary and Sue are perfectly OK names until you put them together…ick! Mary Sues! ^_^ I had fun with my creative license (this is my fan fiction, and I can write whatever I want as long as I follow the website's rules) creating the properties of wavelengths. I wanted them to sound all science-y and stuff.

All I can say for chapter 10 was that it is fun making Soul all embarrassed. And he claims to be too cool to be embarrassed! Don't worry too much for him though; he'll be getting his kisses in the sequel. Oh the joys of "misguided" love! (According to Black*Star that is…)

BROMANCE HUG!

It is 3:00 AM and I am wide awake. Why? I just got back from the Rise of the Planet of the Apes midnight premiere. Go see it! I got coffee for people that made it! ^_^" aka I was the lowly intern. I was the one in the theater geeking out about knowing peeps and trying not to laugh during the movie.


End file.
